The First Park

I first visited Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa, Florida in July 2015. It is a large place, with a small history museum, a café, a swimming pool, canoe rentals, and many trails. I took the trail along the rapids and saw three small alligators, a hawk, at least six turtles, and many giant cicada-killer wasps. They must have been attracted to all the cicadas heard singing everywhere. I also thought I heard monkeys on a nearby trail, but finally decided they were human children, which are a closely related species. Very strangely, the only mosquito to bother me was the one that greeted me when I first entered the woods. Nothing bothered me after that. That itself is amazing.
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I passed by this numbered rock. I surmised it must be one of God’s prototypes. As you can see, he was already fairly good at creating rocks after only three tries. Later, I saw numbers on numerous information placards and on railings. This must be the original park that God modeled all the other parks after! Had I found Eden?

​All along the river are benches where one can relax in the shade and watch the reflected sunlight dance on the overhanging trees above while listening to the cicadas sing. There are many cypress knees around, resembling alien sand castles, making the scenery very interesting. I saw a tree full of holes and a deep, hollow stump. I also saw two different types of trees with these strange bases:

​Returning to Eden:
Since I wasn’t able to take all the trails I wanted the first time, I went back in July 2016. I first thought that I would take the Old Fort King Trail south to see the parts of it I missed when I visited John B Sargeant County Park and walked north. I was surprised to find it overgrown with grass and open to the sun. It was very hot. I walked for a ways and passed a sign. I don’t know what the sign said, because as I stopped to read it, a gigantic black fly two inches long landed on it right in front of me. It looked much like a horsefly on steroids. I removed myself from the area very quickly. Looking it up later I believe it must have been a type of Mydas fly, which are harmless and also kind of rare – lucky me! Further down the trail, it was still very hot. I considered turning back, but at that exact moment I saw a patch of flowers. That was when I knew I had to keep going. There were many flies, bees, dragonflies, moths, and beetles in more colors than I could ever name.

​Finally I reached the shade of the woods but soon found that it was a mixed blessing. Not five seconds after I stepped under the trees I was assaulted by about fifty mosquitoes. I pushed on for a while, but eventually had to turn back. Why were there so many? Why couldn’t 2016 be like 2015?

​Visiting the park proper just down the road, I stopped by the interpretive center to cool off. This is an unmanned one-room museum of the second Seminole War here in Florida. There is a map, a timeline, and many artifacts, including a spoon, a fork, a toothbrush, shoes, and some swivel shot – miniature cannonballs (about 1.5 inches across) meant to be shot from guns able to be quickly swiveled around. There is even wood from a burned bridge.

The Seminole were patient and clever fighters that used the swampy terrain and subtropical climate to their advantage, but they eventually lost to superior numbers and superior firepower. Also, the Floridians sometimes approached under the guise of truce in order to kidnap chiefs. Of course, the Seminole were no angels either; they even kept slaves.

​After stopping for a snack and water, I finally took the trail I originally wanted to take. What I found was a fantasy landscape of twisted trees and logs like something out of a Sonic the Hedgehog game. There were several hollow stumps with the holes extending well below ground level, reminding me of volcanoes. One tree grew across the path in such a way to make a neat bicycle jump. One gigantic hollow tree had a bumpy, swollen base. One tree wore a tutu. This is obviously where God stashes his oddest sculptures - the experiments that don't turn out right - which I suppose explains how I ended up there. I also found more mosquitoes, but this time I had brought my spray. If I stopped to take a picture, admire a tree, or to apply more spray, they would immediately be all over me. There weren’t many other animals around. One exception was what might have been a large mayfly flying rapidly back and forth between two leaves with its long legs extended. It was one of the strangest behaviors I’ve ever seen. I never know what I’m going to see on my walks.  Perhaps the heat had driven it mad. Perhaps the heat had driven me mad and I was only hallucinating it. I suppose I’ll never know.

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