There’s not a whole lot of fall color here in north Florida — at least compared to the brilliant oranges and reds of the autumn leaves further north But that doesn’t mean the seasons don’t …

Finding fossilized shark teeth on our beaches has a long tradition on Amelia Island. When I first moved here years ago, I, too, had the “collecting shark teeth bug.” I spent countless hours …

By now, everyone around Fernandina has noticed the exceptionally high tides that are flooding some of our streets. Downtown along Front Street always floods during these “king tides,” but this …

It’s not every day you see a real live brawl and have the opportunity to call 911 about it. In fact, never has this happened to me. I’ve never seen anyone punched in person and (happily) never …

Sometimes, things happen in my life that seem coincidental, but they happen far too often to be just chance. I know that I am an “open” person with a strong compulsion to connect various people …

It turns out I don’t need to travel to the Mayan Mountains in Belize to get a taste for Indigenous culture. St. George, Georgia, only 40 miles from here, is home to the Cherokee of Georgia Tribal …

It’s not every day that you see someone training a crocodile, not even for me. I’ve seen lots of animals being trained, what with my marriage to a marine mammal trainer, but I never expected to …

We knew that sargassum weed had taken over Placencia, Belize’s normally pristine white sandy beaches, but what the hey? We go to the same five-room hotel there every few months for a couple of …

It’s been years, maybe a couple of decades, since we visited the north entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp just south of Waycross, Georgia. Our memories of it were flavored by the repeated homage to …

Anyone who has read my column over the last couple of decades surely knows that otters are a part of my long-time history and my ever-present passion. For years I was chair of the International Union …

My brother and sister-in-law, along with two of their daughters, live in the Philadelphia area, and I’ve visited them a couple of times a year for years. I’ve seen the regular tourist sites like …

It’s about time I give homage to the wonderful beaches that border our town. So many of us moved here for the beach, and over time have aged out of enjoying it. Well, I’m not letting that happen …

It’s a ritual we perform every summer: a quick trip to Long Island to connect with Bucko’s family. The family is shrinking now, with his mom gone, and only two sisters left in the area. But …

It is one thing to see signs in Fernandina Beach announcing the drought and water conservation mandates, but it is another to see the water bodies I love dry up. My recent trip to Gainesville in the …

It’s been far too long since I took a dip in the St. Marys River. This urge hits me most summers — a throwback to my days as a grad student at the University of Florida, when my friends and I …

The pink birds are back! Roseate spoonbills that rival flamingos with their bright pink coloration are back in force along Heritage River Road off Heckscher Drive just a bit beyond the Sisters Creek …

Our recent brush clearing activities uncovered another gem of nature. When I was cleaning and setting up our deck chairs that had lain dormant collecting detritus for weeks, I found a surprise. A …

Last week’s story detailed the long-needed brush clearing of our edge of the retention pond. I was eager to show our landscaper, Rob, the changes since he had been in our yard mowing grass before …

Bucko and I moved into our brand new home in 2002, 25 years ago, when we were both full of yardwork vigor. Our lot was devoid of trees, shrubs, and plants of any kind, although it did border a …

I can’t believe that Bucko and I have lived for 20-some years in Simmons Cove right beside a property with horses and I never talked to the owners. Well, this week when I saw the property owner on …