Make Swirls

Our family lives near the banks of the Trout River.  Living next to the river has a real appeal to me.  Areas of the Trout River in particular are reminiscent of Old Florida.  I remember as a child watching the TV show Gentle Ben.  The show was about a boy named Mark who lived in the Florida everglades with his 650 pound black bear named Ben.  Marks father was a wildlife ranger and drove an airboat.  As a young kid living in the woods of Vermont, I was captivated by the show and the lifestyle. How cool would it be to have an airboat and a bear! That was my only exposure to Florida when I was 7 or 8 years old.

Living along the Trout River kind of reminds me of that lifestyle.  Crabbers ply their traps, pelicans fly over in formation and Eagles like sentries on high, watch for fish. We don't have an airboat (or a bear for that matter), but we do have a canoe and three dogs (one named Cub). And we like to slip down the river every now and then.  Our location on the Trout River is just across the river from the Jacksonville Zoo. We like to canoe to the zoo.  Last year, our family even created an event called Canoe to the Zoo and had over 125 participants.  It was a really fun event.

My daughters like to paddle the canoe.  They have noticed over the past couple of years, that the canoe paddle leaves a distinct swirl in the water.  Watching the swirls is a little bit mesmerizing.  Riley and Kinsey both like to see the swirls.  I like them too.  They are like aquatic art that seem to have spontaneous life and then just disappear, diving beneath the surface to a place humans are unable to access.  "Make swirls" is a common refrain heard as the Gabree family paddles down the river.  That phrase coming from those two beautiful voices tinged with joy is better than an airboat and a bear any day!

SO today, as you go about your business, make swirls.  Enjoy the simple little gifts God has given you .  They are masterpieces in disguise and art from the Master Designer of us all.  Make Swirls.