Madison Blue, one of Florida's most spectacular and uncrowded springs, is hidden away in Lee, Florida just north of I-10 and west of I-75 along the Withlacoochee River.
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The current flow rate of this first magnitude spring is about 64 million gallons per day (100 cubic feet per second; 1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons or 28 liters). The rate is rapidly declining as rainfall in the recharge region north to Valdosta, Georgia has been low in recent months and massive withdrawals from the aquifer are occurring adjacent to the spring property by Nestle Waters North America (NOTE: Don't buy Nestlé products if you want to properly protest their destruction of Florida springs). The Nestle Waters plant is almost larger than the entire 33 acre park covering many acres. More on that below.
Adjacent to the spring is a bottling plant for Nestlé's Deer Park and Zephyrhills bottled water brands. While I love Florida springs, I personally would not engage in drinking this water unless it were boiled. When you look at these images you see that while it appears spring-fresh it is mixing with the tea-colored waters of the Withlacoochee River and birds, fish and other animals have access to the springs, river and sinks in this area which they may use for various purposes. Also homes in this region generally use septic tanks for sewage which leech into the groundwater of the area.
That concern aside, there is the moral objection to a massive Swiss food-corporation sucking up Florida's waters for free, to sell around the world as "pure Deer Park water." B.S. Alert! Do like I do and don't buy their nasty, plastic-tasting water, even if it does come from Madison Blue.
Around the spring property and across the river to the east in the protected woodlands there are multiple dramatic small springs and sinks. The undulating landscape and the thick forest have a primeval feel to them.
On this drizzly day the park is mostly deserted except for some kids playing football in the river. I have all the trails and sinks to myself to explore.
The forest is quiet and mostly unspoiled. The Pot Spring area gets its name because people like to smoke pot there, so says the local lore.
Martz Sink
The walk down to the tiny entrance into the flooded cave system at Martz Sink is steep.
The area around the sink is a mix of hardwood forest and palm hammock.
There are a lot of web pages on diving Martz Sink but I personally don't know how anyone my size could fit down in there. Below, a video I took of the perfectly still and quiet of Martz Sink, about 30 feet below ground level.
Withlacoochee River Football
That Tree!
The short, fast moving spring run empties into the Withlacoochee River.
The Withlacoochee just above the Nestlé bottling plant at the southern end of the park property.
We've Read:
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| "The Discovery of the Body of Saint John of Nepomuk," by Miguel Jerónimo Zendejas, 1793. The 14th-century Bohemian martyr had a pious life, terrible death. But here, surrounded by flaming stars and angels, he enters the grand silent opera of Beyond. |
Soul-stirring Spanish American art is finally being swarded center stage status in North American museums—and it's sensuous and rapturous.
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| Installation view of "Painted in Mexico; 1700-1790," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
The great cathedral of Mexico City is a visual opera of light, movement and sacred history. And at its center is a true coup de théâtre: the carved and painted “Retablo de los Reyes” — “Altar of the Kings” — by the 18th-century artist Juan Rodríguez Juárez. At once soaring and torrential, the altar insists on your smallness, your next-to-nothingness in the redemptive drama. At the same time, by overwhelming and engulfing you it makes you part of the story. You’re both audience and participant, a vital particle.
That’s how art as spiritual theater works. As with all theater, you need to be physically present for the full effect. To experience Rodríguez Juárez’s immovable altar, you have to go there. But sometimes theater will come to you, as it does in many of the 130 pictures, large and small, that make up “Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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| Folding Screen with Fête Galante and Musicians attributed to Miguel Cabrera, ca. 1760. |