Dinata Misovec

Good boating buddies and excellent exploring partners, Martin and Betsy stopped in to spend the night with us on their way from the keys to Massachusetts. I’m a little annoyed that they only stayed one night; I wanted them to stay at least a week.

So, to squeeze a little exploration into their visit, we took them to Venetian Gardens park to eat lunch on the waterfront. Then we took them to see our trees.

This Live Oak (so called because it does not lose all its leaves at once and is never bare) in Lake Griffin State Park is the second largest tree in Florida. Now that I know that, I have plans to visit the largest in Gainesville.

I ask myself the question: is this one tree or six trees grown together? Here, Martin is peering into the “nest” formed in the center of the trunks.

Our next stop was a little road-side park in the town of Lady Lake. It is also large, but wide rather than tall.