Spent a quiet day here at the trailer and in the park. Really wanted to work at finally getting over this cough that seems to have been going on for weeks now. Seems ironic that how to 'work at' getting rid of it is pretty much not to do anything. Something I am happy to say I am really good at.

   Dosed myself up really well starting last night with all the usual cold and cough suppressant types of drugs, I know all of them really well by this time. But I also hit the system pretty heavy with big doses of aspirin to see if that had any effect. To my surprise the combination seems to have knocked it all for a loop and my coughing is now down to a couple of times at the end of my 4 hour dosing cycle. It probably hasn't hurt that I have also spent a lot of time laying on the couch catching naps between chapters in one of my books or magazines.

   Did go out for a short walk this afternoon and explored the actual park I'm set up in. Very nice little county park with a big area set aside for playing in the spring run as it comes out of the ground and flows down through a section of the park they turned into a swimming area. There are also a couple short trails to explore and lots of benches to sit on and watch the squirrels doing their thing.

Kelly Park Florida near the town of Apopka - Jan 13, 2013

 


Unlike most springs in Florida, Kelly Springs actually comes out of two caves in the side of a low cliff instead of bubbling up from a hole in the ground.

 

The water is just as clear and blue as elsewhere though, as is the main temperature of between 72-74 degrees.

The park allows people to swim and tube on the upper section of the spring run. This is where most of them put in.

A section of the spring run. Obviously this is not as large of a spring as some that I have taken pictures of.

Lot's of nice pickerel weed blooming in and along side the edges of the water.

The park ran the spring through a large enclosed swimming basin close to the parking lots and concession stands. This is late in the afternoon, but it appears that the area is well used by families for a nice day out with a picnic.

 

A couple of tubers and swimmers coming down the channel.

Down below the last take-out the stream gets a bit denser and wilder.

 

Saw this flock of about 6 Osceola turkeys on my walk this afternoon. They weren't hanging around very long so the photo isn't the best.

 

There were a whole bunch of burls growing on this one old Live Oak tree in the park.  I can imagine that this area with all of it's different grain patterns would make a very beautiful turned bowl some day after the tree has died or has been cut down. But the texture even now is kind of interesting to me.