Hello Everyone.......welcome to my world.......

I was so thrilled when Cara asked me to be featured on Blog-Trotting. My blog is http://www.ousiaforpresident.blogspot.com/ . I'm kind of nervous. You see, so far, we have been to cities that are huge, massively huge, compared to where I am from. Those places had lots of interesting shops and restaurants and stadiums and museums, my home, not so much.

You see I live in a small, extremely rural area in Florida called Fort White. It is about halfway between the cities of Gainesville and Lake City.

A quiet, peaceful little town. Almost a village really. The 200o census records a population of 531. It has at least doubled since then. A massive growth spurt. But it is a great place to live. I have two favorite times of the year. In the spring, millions of black eyed susans and multicolor flocks line the road sides. I kid you not, it looks like a golden blanket has been laid down on the sides of the roads. And my 2nd favorite is from the 1st of December till the last of January. That is season that our new baby calves are born here on the farm. What a season of discovery that is.

A little background: We moved here two years ago when my husband's father passed away. They run a cattle and hay farm and his mother needed the help. Viola!!!

We have one stop light, two family style restaurants, one Subway store and three convenience stores. All within three blocks of each other. There is a post office and two beauty salons. Cause if there is one thing women from this far in the country are gonna have is their hair and nails did.

On Sunday mornings, you can usually find us here:

First Baptist Church of High Springs. This isn't our actual sanctuary, but it looks a whole lot like this.

One thing that we have an abundance of here is nature. We are surrounded on all sides by beautiful places to hike and ride and canoe and fish and hunt.

A few examples are:

Oleno State Park - www.floridastateparks.org/oleno/

and Kamp Kulaqua. It has several swimming areas including a pool and a water park for the kiddies

We also have River Rise State Park.

Perhaps what Fort White is most famous for however is the beautiful Ichetucknee River. During the summer thousands of people flock to it every day. They rent tubes and spend anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours leisurely floating down this very cold river. Actually the water temperature remains at a steady 72 degrees year round. It is a fabulous way to spend the day with your friends and family. Below, you will find a few pictures of the swimming, tubing and scuba diving that take place there. It is also a state park. The local middle and high school students are very much involved in the environmental studies of this ever changing ecosystem.

The head springs.

Scuba divers at one of the smaller springs

About 6 miles away is the larger town of High Springs. This little town is quite pedestrian friendly. There are arts and crafts stores and antique shopping. And every Thursday afternoon, rain or shine, there is a farmer's market held right at the main intersection in town. Farmers from all around bring in their fresh produce and wares. It really is quite fun. One Friday night a month is High Springs Fun Night. It is so family oriented. They even have horse drawn carriage rides through the city.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my small town and the surrounding areas. If you ever get the chance, you really should float on down the Ichetucknee. You'll be hard pressed to find any place more beautiful.

Thanks for visiting my home town. Y'all come back now, you hear.