Myakka river park

The Myakka river State park is a lovely looking , well maintained ,wild life sanctuary. It hosts a gang of Alligators that reside in the banks of the river Myakka. We parked our car and set off to walk. Hire bikes were available but, we chose to walk .One part of the park was closed to the public, due to floods . That was where we could have seen a cluster of alligators, missed it though. The stream was more like backwaters, stagnant at a few places, by the centre of which stood a beautiful wood house. Walking through the woods , it seemed as though, everything built with wood was alluring. On our way to the alligator bank , I saw another simple , neat , beautiful wood house , which I thought was a rest area. I started wondering who the architect was , when suddenly my eyes caught this board nailed to the simple and neat wood house - "LADIES". Hope u wud have guessed by now , what the board on the other side of the house read.

We went to the fishing spot, which resembled a wooden bridge with wooden benches alongside . I was a bit scared, seeing an alligator upclose, almost near my feet. I dont know if he was hungry, but sure was he , staying still to catch his prey. The 'gator was not more than 5 ft long but was quite scary.They position themselves in the water in such a way that only their eyes are visible from a distance of about 50 m, horizontally. I was shaken by the wiggle of a half alive fish that jumped out of the bucket nearby. An old lady standing next to me was fishing and one of the fishes she had caught jumped out of the bucket. She caught about 4 fishes with a single rod in 5 minutes. A lotto of kids were around with fishing rods. Fishing teaches patience and the power of listening, in case , you dint know before.

The sight was pleasant, relaxing with the grass ,green on both sides. The river was flooded with fresh clean water streaming silently across a 100 m ( only for this alligator bank) wide canal .The vista kinda reminded me of Windows XP wall paper. The State forest made a very nice camping spot with Barbeque grills and dining benches almost everywhere. We saw a group of about 8 vultures sitting on the high branches of some wild tree , similar to a banyan tree. The hanging roots of the trees only added to the beauty of the sight. The vultures were silent until the smoke from a grill reached the sky. Only two members of the vulture group were giving away noise while the rest of the group were resting , watching over people like us. The sight of the vultures was not scary as I was expecting it to be.

Boatrides were available and we could see two boats in the waters, occupied.There is a 40 minutes stress buster , nature trail - the real walk in the woods. But the rule is strictly , 'No talking' for we might disturb the birds. With me and the two kids around we knew it was impossible. We might see a deer or a turkey n a few other wild species.But the idea is to relax our mind , walking thru the woods. Nevertheless we saw a deer on our way to the nature trail, already and we were pretty much in tranquility , just being there.So, skipped it. We saw a long stretch of cattle grazing fields on our way to the park. We saw a herd of the cattle grazing happily , when the player in our car went, "Senbagame... senbagame.." a song from the movie 'Enga ooru (m)Paatukaran '.

One thing ,I believe every one enjoys in this park is that, wild life is undisturbed. People visit this place for camping, fishing, birdwatching,nature photography,canoeing. The stature and texture of the trees tell tales of their age. At sunset ,the trees are adorned and they look more gorgeous than ever. If I were a painter/poetess/photographer, I cud have captured the sight of these trees at sunset better. Alas! the indelible memory of such unmatched beauty is mere words now.

Serene Siesta...

The only silent beach I have ever seen is at Sarasota. I got a handful of adjectives to describe the view of the sunset at Siesta say, awe-inspiring, amazing, incredible, beautiful, peaceful, lovely, adorable, fabulous and fantastic ! The sand was fine and milky white .The sky was adorned in orange, purple and pink. Yeah m sure, I was not dreaming.

The beach was like every child's dream with the waves swaying, gently touching the feet, pulling .With the ripples of the water carving along the shallow shore in beautiful curves and the silent waves of the clear water showcasing a myriad of sea shells fallen at the feet, all I had to do was to reach for it.
The tide was not intimidating. The sand was not viscous.It was like a warm welcome, a hug from mother nature. A bunch of people with gentlemen adorned in silver grey wedding suits and ladies in sea green wedding gowns, went past me. I saw a flock of sea gulls coming out of nowhere, silently watching over the wedding group. I confirm , I was not dreaming. The bunch cleared in 10 minutes and so did the sea gulls.

My friend took her toddler to the waters , and pulled him back as the waves touched his feet gently. Watching me walk to the waters, he came running to me. All the five little fingers on his right got the grip from the little finger on my left. He was lilting, giggling , enjoying and jumping with all his might, like he was dancing to the silent beat of the ocean. He was smiling at me all the time. The cute friendship , that I shared with this little buddy was what made me feel more than happy, while I saw a ship heading to the shore at a distance that seemed to be very close.Ofcourse , I was not dreaming.

I learnt that the fine sand is warm through night and day. I sat their watching the wonderful vista. The warmth of the sand and the silence of the sea was like a talk with the God. I believed my very presence at the shore is a blessing sent from above.So, I could nt ask for more. I enjoyed this tranquility, feeling like one with the universe, until it dawned on me at dusk , it was time I left the place and life is but a dream.

Click click click...

Who wudnt wanna treasure a memorable moment in an album? I dont hav a fantastic face, to be admired even by me.But I cherish it ,its my identity afterall.My friends could easily say m a photo-freak.Thats because, before my presence is even felt in a place, I start clicking around. One reason could be that I dont have too many albums from my childhood,except for the group photos and the other formal snaps.

For once, I wanted to capture myself in my workplace on my very last working day there ,it was not allowed though. Most of the buddies out there, do that.If the rules are strictly abided by,how can one see a snap of almost every friend posing in his/her office cubicle on Orkut? well this one snap was not for the architectural details of the office cubicle but for the wonderful memories I shared with a long lost friend from school (Sangee).We attended every tuition class together.She gave me lift everyday to every class.Sweet girl is her that if shes the epitome of sincerity , dedication and hardwork, I was just the opposite.After schooling , we cud hardly catch up.I ran into her , years later when she told me that she had an offer from this MNC. I started dreaming of a similar offer.To my wonder, I got an offer from the same MNC, after not more than 3 months.An year later , I saw her once.She had to fly overseas.
Since then,I dint get much to see her.It was entirely by accident that I happen to see her on my last working day in the office.She told me that she was getting married soon.It struck me that I wont be there for her wedding.I have never seen her so happy before.I wanted to capture the cheer on her face ,forever.Infact , I just wanted a picture of us both.But it was office and no tourist spot, so I took the snap, thinking atleast she will be in the picture.Guess what? I couldnt hear the click of the camera. After a hiatus , I took out the camera, not charging it enough.Eventually,it ran out of charge, much to despair.Need I say ,I couldnot handle her saying ,"Perfect !" ,with the 'same old you' look on her face.