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WILD FOR FLORIDA WILDLIFE
“Why aren’t there any mosquitoes when I visit Florida?” I was once asked. “Where do you go in Florida?” I asked. “To Disney World, Sea World – all those theme parks around Orlando.” I wondered how to reply without bursting this man’s image of “natural” Florida that exists within the gates of “unnatural” worlds made…
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SOPCHOPPY – SMALL TOWN BIG IN NATURE
The Worm Gruntin’ Festival first drew my eye to the small town of Sopchoppy, Florida, located between Tallahassee and the Gulf of Mexico. I had no idea what it was, but it sounded weirdly fun. Worm Gruntin’ is an ancient technique to get earthworms up from the ground. A wooden stake—a “stob”—is pounded into the…
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FOR THE LOVE OF SEA TURTLES
I’ve long had a love affair with sea turtles. It might have started when I learned the amazing life history of this species. It only grew after my experience first as a volunteer member of a sea turtle patrol on Matanzas Beach, Florida, twenty years ago. Then fifteen years ago, I was a part of…
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MY MOVIE DEBUT – WATER’S JOURNEY
I met Wes Skiles, a cave diving pioneer, explorer, and underwater cinematographer, soon after moving to High Springs, Florida. He also lived in High Springs. His business, Karst Productions, was based outside the small town. His photographs of the springs and caves, not only of caves and springs in the High Springs area, but also…
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SMALL TOWNS ROCK – PALATKA, FLORIDA
Any discussion about the Florida town of Palatka begins and ends with the St. Johns River, which helped create the community centuries ago. Back in its golden days, many called it the “Gem City of the St. Johns.” The St. Johns River flows for 310 miles northward, making it Florida’s longest river. It begins in…
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ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS – A HISTORY AND CULTURE OF A FLORIDA SPRING – #FREE
A Project of the Heart Please download my new book, Ichetucknee Springs – A History and Culture of a Florida Spring. It’s #Free to download in any format that works for you. Click on the cover or here. Ichetucknee Springs – A History and Culture of a Florida Spring – my latest project offers a…
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SMALL TOWNS ROCK
Small towns form the backbone of our country where farming and culture met and flourished for the first centuries of our existence. Railroads and interstates nearly destroyed them, but with the resilience of strong foundations, they have begun the slow process of bringing us together once again. Revitalization efforts across the country are bringing back…
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The Lighthouses of the Forgotten Coast of Florida
Florida’s Forgotten Coast – I almost hate writing about this section of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico coastline at the eastern start of the Panhandle. It is remote, beautiful, rural, and filled with small fishing villages that once thrived in the early days of Florida’s history. Along the Highway 98, Florida’s coastal scenic road,…
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JIMMY, YOU WILL BE MISSED
I wrote the following blog post in February 2024 about my “brush” with President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter more than twenty years ago in Plains, Georgia. It’s still one of my bittersweet favorite stories. When I learned of his passing two days ago, I retold the story. Then I remembered something else. Jimmy Carter…
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P.C. ZICK 