Who knew we could slip so easily back into time the way we did that day? I had arrived at the Sopchoppy Depot one Saturday morning and settled myself on the steps facing Rose Avenue. From this vantage position I could watch the quaint rural town on the southwest edge of Wakulla County come to midmorning life. Now and then a pick-up truck rattled by, its occupants running leisurely the errands that waited for Saturday mornings. Next door shopkeeper Pat Bishop swept the porch of Posh Java in preparation of the day. The kitties-in-residence darted across the front lawn where soon Jack Simmons of Crescent Moon Organic Farm would set up with other vendors for the weekly grower’s market. Directly across the road I watched as a car pulled into the sandy parking lot of the Senior Citizen’s Thrift Store. A small dog leaps out as the car door opens and speeds like a bullet aimed deliberately in my direction across the quiet street. This little furry ball of energy lands squarely beside me, wags his lively tail and looks up eagerly for a scratch behind his ears. Now how could I refuse?

Certified Green Guide Helen Cooper has always loved butterflies. She is a native to Wakulla County and grew up chasing butterflies near her home in downtown Crawfordville when children could run in the street by the Courthouse because the only traffic was on the weekend when folks drove south to the coast. She is a descendant of the Roberts and Tuckers on her daddy’s side, and kin to the Taffs and Carraways through her mama. If you live around these parts, you will know the generations of these longstanding families. If not, a drive through the county will quickly acquaint you with these names familiar on street signs, assorted businesses and buildings.

Helen became a Green Guide through the Tallahassee Community College Ecotourism Institute because she is drawn to the outdoors and the discovery of details specific to area flora and fauna. She especially enjoys nature photography. It was at one St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Monarch Butterfly Festival several years ago when Helen went to photograph butterflies, that she became enamored with the beauty of the monarch. Soon afterwards, she became a volunteer for the Monarch Project where she learned to count, capture and tag monarchs travelling on their epic 2,000 mile journey from the northern American boundary to the mountains of central Mexico. Millions of monarchs pass through the river corridors and along Florida’s Gulf coast to get to a certain 70 square mile forest located in central Mexico. It takes four generations for the butterflies to finally reach their destination where they spend their winter hibernation in the very same trees each and every year. This incredible migratory phenomenon happens here in our area beginning about the third week of October and lasts until mid-November.

“When you help others, you help yourself,” says Helen insightfully.

“That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon. But we’re gonna let it. You won’t regret it” – Bob Dylan lyrics

It had been like any other hot, humid mid-summer day in the Deep South part of North Florida. The heat rose that afternoon along with our anticipation of being witness to history in the making that we would recount some future day to our own grandchildren. At least that is what our Mother had assured, and declared that we would all stay up late to watch for ourselves on the little black and white TV – even the youngest ones. Mother was like that. It was our wonder years and she had already passed to each of us her kindred spirit for adventure. Earlier that afternoon we had witnessed the historic landing, and now as the hours ticked by, we eagerly waited the promised pinnacle to watch proudly as the American flag was firmly planted on the frontier lunar ground.

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water – (Loren Eiseley, “Four Quartets,” in The Immense Journey). The real magic of Florida in not found in the Disney kingdom, but rather in the tremendous abundance of freshwater spilling forth from her hundreds of springs, thousands of rivers, streams and lakes, and millions of acres of wetlands and underlying aquifer. Water is perhaps Florida’s most valued resource. Wakulla County is likewise blessed with more than her fair share of this watery wealth. The handsome crown she proudly wears is inlaid with the dazzling jewel that is Wakulla Springs, the World’s deepest and longest freshwater spring. Below her crown etching distinct lines of fine character into her ageless face are the four major rivers we know as the Ochlockonee, the Sopchoppy, the Wakulla and the St. Marks. These four rivers each with their own unique personalities stream toward Apalachee Bay and the larger body of the Gulf adding to the rich complexion of Wakulla County.