Back to the Tundra
Jan. 23rd, 2003 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyspriteI've always considered myself a winter person - I love snow, and ice, and I'm rather fond of cold weather. However, sitting here in my chilly bedroom, wrapped in blankets and trying to regain feeling in my nose and ears, with memories of sprawling on the lawn of my hotel yesterday afternoon dressed in t-shirt and jeans, trying to store up sunshine for my return journey, I can understand the appeal of southern Florida. I don't *think* I'd want to move there full-time.... but it's damn tempting right now.
The conference was wonderful. There were more lectures than I could possibly have attended, but I've managed to learn plenty on a whole lot of interesting topics - arthritis in cats, emergency and neonatal avian medicine, reptile anesthesia, feline pancreatitis.... okay, interesting to me, at least. And it was nice to be among fellow vets for a while, and be able to geek out on medicine topics and share horror stories and tales of adventure with like-minded souls. I had wonderful non-veterinary friends to keep me company in the evenings as well, in spite of the occasional organizational snafu, and the weather was nothing short of glorious.
So there was sunshine, and there was education, and there was dinner with friends. And, of course, there were manatees. Few things in this world are worth waking up at 4:30 am for, but I can testify to the fact that manatee-swimming is one of them. We all trundled out of bed at that horrid hour and plunged out into the deadly Florida cold (I think it was about 50 degrees, at that hour) and even endured having the tour guide videotape us getting into our wetsuits - and it was entirely worth every moment of it.
I had never been snorkeling before, so that was an educational experience by itself - no safe little pools here; the tour involved wandering around streams and rivers until we found the Secret Manatee Brunching Grounds, then tossing us out to make friends. The first minute or so found me in a blind panic of cognitive dissonance caused by the instinct that, with my face underwater, I really shouldn't be able to breathe; none of this was made easier by the large friendly manatee who decided to welcome me rather enthusiastically with a hearty pat on the back. But after a few minutes of failing-to-drown, I managed to relax and forget that there was anything out of the ordinary with my breathing apparatus.
Manatees are amazing creatures. They're incredibly friendly, and they really do come up to the boats to visit people. I think I was fairly quickly adopted into the clan, since shortly after plunging into the water one came up to rub noses with me, and wound up dancing around me in a ten-minute-long water ballet. Over and under, rolling on her side, waving her flippers up to get scritched, then looping her tail around my fins... it's hard to believe anything that big and rough and slow can be graceful, but they are. Beautiful, and graceful, and intelligent - you can see it in their eyes when they look at you, a level of understanding that goes beyond animal instinct. I almost wonder who was there to entertain, and who was on display.
The entire experience was amazing. One calf came out to play, and did flips and barrel rolls for the better part of an hour, and there were whole clusters of adults wandering around like a marine mammal tea party. Alas, though, I am not a marine mammal, and without several hundred pounds of protective padding I eventually began to freeze my primate backside off, and had to retreat to the boat. They followed us a good distance back to the dock, though, and I was sorely tempted to buy the videotape.
As if that wasn't enough, I also managed to watch a lot of the local wildlife - pelicans landing within feet of our boat, herons watching us pass without any sign of alarm, egrets and hawks and so many more that I'm forgetting... I know they're everyday when you live there, but it was wonderful to see something other than geese and... well, geese.
I'm home now, and starting to thaw ever so slowly, and it's wonderful to be back with my sweetheart and my cats and my computer. But ye gods, I had an amazing time while I was there....
The conference was wonderful. There were more lectures than I could possibly have attended, but I've managed to learn plenty on a whole lot of interesting topics - arthritis in cats, emergency and neonatal avian medicine, reptile anesthesia, feline pancreatitis.... okay, interesting to me, at least. And it was nice to be among fellow vets for a while, and be able to geek out on medicine topics and share horror stories and tales of adventure with like-minded souls. I had wonderful non-veterinary friends to keep me company in the evenings as well, in spite of the occasional organizational snafu, and the weather was nothing short of glorious.
So there was sunshine, and there was education, and there was dinner with friends. And, of course, there were manatees. Few things in this world are worth waking up at 4:30 am for, but I can testify to the fact that manatee-swimming is one of them. We all trundled out of bed at that horrid hour and plunged out into the deadly Florida cold (I think it was about 50 degrees, at that hour) and even endured having the tour guide videotape us getting into our wetsuits - and it was entirely worth every moment of it.
I had never been snorkeling before, so that was an educational experience by itself - no safe little pools here; the tour involved wandering around streams and rivers until we found the Secret Manatee Brunching Grounds, then tossing us out to make friends. The first minute or so found me in a blind panic of cognitive dissonance caused by the instinct that, with my face underwater, I really shouldn't be able to breathe; none of this was made easier by the large friendly manatee who decided to welcome me rather enthusiastically with a hearty pat on the back. But after a few minutes of failing-to-drown, I managed to relax and forget that there was anything out of the ordinary with my breathing apparatus.
Manatees are amazing creatures. They're incredibly friendly, and they really do come up to the boats to visit people. I think I was fairly quickly adopted into the clan, since shortly after plunging into the water one came up to rub noses with me, and wound up dancing around me in a ten-minute-long water ballet. Over and under, rolling on her side, waving her flippers up to get scritched, then looping her tail around my fins... it's hard to believe anything that big and rough and slow can be graceful, but they are. Beautiful, and graceful, and intelligent - you can see it in their eyes when they look at you, a level of understanding that goes beyond animal instinct. I almost wonder who was there to entertain, and who was on display.
The entire experience was amazing. One calf came out to play, and did flips and barrel rolls for the better part of an hour, and there were whole clusters of adults wandering around like a marine mammal tea party. Alas, though, I am not a marine mammal, and without several hundred pounds of protective padding I eventually began to freeze my primate backside off, and had to retreat to the boat. They followed us a good distance back to the dock, though, and I was sorely tempted to buy the videotape.
As if that wasn't enough, I also managed to watch a lot of the local wildlife - pelicans landing within feet of our boat, herons watching us pass without any sign of alarm, egrets and hawks and so many more that I'm forgetting... I know they're everyday when you live there, but it was wonderful to see something other than geese and... well, geese.
I'm home now, and starting to thaw ever so slowly, and it's wonderful to be back with my sweetheart and my cats and my computer. But ye gods, I had an amazing time while I was there....
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no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 04:11 pm (UTC)Nonsense! Or, rather, if someone ever finds these critters "everyday" (even alligators), then they deserve to stay in the parts of Florida that are paved over. Turkey vultures are among the most common sights in the sky, and I still marvel at their airborne grace. Frogs are a constant nighttime chorus for eight months out of the year, and we will still be tempted to wake Vincent up when there's a green treefrog attached to our kitchen window. Even the mourning doves are welcome (especially if they keep that red-shouldered hawk in the neighborhood).
Organizational snafus, heh! Call it, at least on Sunday night, a case of a Tampa resident's forgetting to give out a cell phone when it was most logical.
Manatee time
Date: 2003-01-23 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 06:44 pm (UTC)So no pictures, sorry. I did get a little stuffed manatee doll, though, and a coloring book that I could share with you... :)
no subject
Date: 2003-01-26 10:08 am (UTC)Good for you! We often spend so much time trying to live for the future that we don't pay nearly enough attention to the here-and-now. (A lesson I'm drawing from the Buddhism courses I'm working through right now, which is striking a real chord in me...)
Sounds like truly amazing fun...
no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 05:02 pm (UTC)And hey, it seemed a little warmer tonight than it did this morning, so maybe you brought us back some south Florida heat.
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Date: 2003-01-23 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 08:02 pm (UTC)A.
who wants to hear more about the manatees....
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Date: 2003-01-23 09:12 pm (UTC)Geri
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Date: 2003-01-23 09:17 pm (UTC)JanetM, wondering if there are ever major veterinary conferences in Knoxville, or even Nashville or Asheville, so she could have dinner with you again
no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 10:19 pm (UTC)-Random reader
no subject
Date: 2003-01-24 03:33 am (UTC)Love,
-R
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Date: 2003-01-24 04:26 am (UTC)I get the impression that spending time with manatees would have a good deal of therapeutic potential; the friendliness, acceptance, and sense of community all sound so positive.
You clearly have one of the coolest jobs in the world. :)
no subject
Date: 2003-01-24 06:33 am (UTC)