ESSAY AND PHOTOS BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
It had been a while, what with summer’s oppressive lingering heat and a couple of autumn hurricanes boring through to leave our parks in a whirlwind of disarray that’s kept visitors at bay.
So it felt like a homecoming of sorts, nature breathing a calming “Welcome back” into our arthritic bones as the old man and I sauntered down the hiking trail at New Port Richey’s James E. Grey Preserve.
The local park boasts an easy trail and both a river and hammock view that sometimes offers a glimpse of a manatee and more often a gopher tortoise or two or more on a good day.
Best of all it’s just a short car ride away. A quick jaunt to one of our favorite haunts when you feel the need to to shake off the indoors and get away from it all. Catch our breath. Dull the din. Get a little piece of mind. (Cue Peace of Mind from Loggins and Messina’s Sittin’ In album.- Link to youtube)
We’d heard and read about the extensive damage to local and state parks but to our delightful surprise the entry looked well-maintained; the lawn along the pathway that leads to the scenic boardwalk was neatly mowed.
Good job parks and rec 🙂
Barely scathed, it seemed as we made our way, choosing our direction as the path came to a V all the while knowing well which way we would go.
After all, we have been here before.
We know the way.
Our further trek unveiled the wake of Milton’s windy wrath brought to light in a way that had us seeing things differently than we had before.
Something was off.
The felled Florida fauna had opened new vistas of the tannin-colored waters of the Pithlachascotee River we discovered, while realizing vantages we never knew were there.
The broken trees and browning branches framed a new worldly view that felt good in a way a true unveiling often doesn’t. Nature offered us “pie in the sky” rippling reflections that don’t cause you to recoil, but rather make you catch your breath and absorb it in a way that washes over you and moves you forward despite the headwinds.
A peaceful respite after the storm. A diamond in the rough of it all.
I wish you the same in your day.
Now onward.
M
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