Bart Smith and Sandra Friend

Nearly seven years ago, I met Seattle photographer Bart Smith at an FTA Annual Conference, where he’d come looking for me. He wanted to collaborate on a coffee table book about the Florida Trail, and I was all for it. The result of our partnership was Along the Florida Trail. Bart thru-hiked, keeping me posted on what he was seeing along the way, and I went out and did section hikes with friends. We met up in a few places, like the Big O Hike, to hike together.

I found out this spring from Bart’s wife, Bridgie, that Bart had almost met his goal of hiking ALL of the National Scenic Trails. What a feat! Today Bart met his goal: all trails complete! He wrapped up his hike of the CDT in Yellowstone.  Here’s the story.

His website’s gorgeous, with slide shows from every National Scenic Trail. I contributed the written content about the trails.  Bart’s website: Walking Down A Dream.

A little behind-the-software problem forced me to set up a new template for the website. Since I was tinkering anyway, I added some rich media components, including direct links to my Florida Hikes! podcast (with a version for iPhone, check it out!) and my latest videos on YouTube. New content, too! Learn about the writer’s workshops that I can teach, and check out the list of newspapers and magazines I’ve written for in the past decade while writing my books. 

New Look to the Website

Reaching the tip of Boca Grande, I stood and stared at the churning waters of Charlotte Harbor. Purple and blue gathered in angry skeins, the waves billowed in the space between this spit of sand and Cayo Costa. Tiny lagoons formed from the harbor’s overflow across the beach, leaving strips of sand and shells to buffer the shoreline.

Rounding the corner, I walked into the wind. At the base of the sea oats lay beds of shells strewn by the storms, slivers of texture amid the sand. Stooping, I saw the iridescent glimmer of pen shells, and a wave of memory washed over me. I was seven again, combing the beach behind the Anchor Inn on Sanibel Island, where pen shells lay scattered thickly like leaves on the shore. It made me wonder where they’d disappeared all these years.

Feeling the fervor of shelling, a pursuit that slipped away from me years ago, I examined the shell beds more closely. There were murex and conch shells, whelks and tulips. More names bubbled up from the past: jingle shell, turkey-wing, olive shell, jack knife clam. In just a few feet of searching, I found dozens of uncommon gifts from the sea, a bounty of shells unparalleled since my childhood. I looked to the distant horizon, feeling the connection with my young self, my travels past, and a sea that shares its bounty in the stormiest weather.

Just finished rebuilding my personal website, with more information about my books (and easier to find it, too, thanks to the scrolling book bar) and a new section on public appearances. I’ve added all my new web designs - personal and for clients - to the mix as well. Stop by and take a look!

My new author website

In a move that is simply mindblowing in its proportions, U.S. Sugar just announced that it is willing to sell 187,000 acres to the state of Florida for $1.75 billion for Everglades restoration. This would encompass the vast tracts of sugar cane south of Clewiston towards Alligator Alley, and if the deal goes through, would mean the end of sugar production in Clewiston: a staggering economic blow to this historic community, which, if it takes a full five years, could be mitigated in part by working with residents to ramp up ecotourism. Once again, when restoration is complete, Clewiston and South Bay would have the Everglades at their doorstep.  As a avid “Big O” hiker, I’ll be watching this one closely!  I found this breaking story in Florida Trend  (from the St. Petersburg Times)