Nun gets her plant on.

Brunette Sister is safely in DC as of last night, and Strawberry Blond Sister is safe from my trans rays in her home about six blocks away. What Mom and I did without them was to go to Kanapaha Gardens, a 50+ acre botanical garden filled with an astounding variety of plants. This being Florida, there's a lot of stuff you can grow there that won't do so well elsewhere. Let's see if I can remember some highlights:

• HUJ bamboo stands.
• A formerly three-crowned palm tree that had lost two crowns to a hurricane.
• A big horsetail patch, a fern area, and a cycad garden. I've mentioned to some of you that if I had way too much time & money on my hands, I'd start up a garden of ancient plants. Parts of Kanapaha are very nearly that. Between the plants and the reptiles & amphibians, the mesozoic never really ended in Florida.
• A honeysuckle trestle. I'd forgotten how much I love that smell.
• An awful lot of what looks like primeval North Florida forest - live oaks, Spanish moss, thick vines, windfall trees.
• Sinkholes! OK, the granddaddy of them all is the Devil's Millhopper not far from Mom's, but still, they're cool.

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In summation, Florida is a land of many contrasts. This has been, as I predicted, the best family visit ever. Yeah, I can't wait to get back to Project Girlfriend, but on the other hand I'm not looking forward to getting back to the daily grind. Mom & Brunette Sister tolerated my giddy burblings and TMI with tremendous grace, and being able to - How to put this? - be real with them feels wonderful.

Oh by the way: I don't think I've used lip balm all day. I don't need it when I'm here.

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Confession time: I've been using LJ as a write-only medium while I'm on vacation, so please let me know if you've undergone any major life changes such as changing sex, dying, etc.