Stop and smell the roses.

Yes, the saying is as old as time. But it’s still good advice. The meaning is crystal clear: Slow down. Let go. Take time out of your busy day to please your senses.

Close encounters with nature are healthy interruptions of your stress-packed schedule. Our advice? Take a break in your hectic routine and savor the beauty right in front of you.

Lakewood Ranch is filled with great opportunities. Here’s a short list to get you started.

Greenbrook Adventure Park and Heron’s Nest Nature Park

A tranquil nature walk is a perfect start for your journey of the senses. Greenbrook Adventure Park, in Lakewood Ranch, is close to civilization. But its canopied walking path reveals wild Florida in all its untamed beauty.

It winds through marshlands, alongside ponds and around wild woods. After a mile on the trail, you’ll reach another path that leads to Heron’s Nest Nature Park.

This 110-acre refuge boasts two lakes" Heron Lake and Summerfield Lake. (If fishing is your Zen thing, you’ve found your happy place.) The Heron’s Nest trail is short but scenic. While it’s just shy of a mile, it offers abundant opportunities to spot birds, beasts and other wildlife.

Canine companions are welcome — but must be on leash.

To quote W. Somerset Maugham, “There are few things so pleasant as a picnic eaten in perfect comfort.” When the weather is good, al fresco dining is sublime. Pack a basket with your favorite picnic fare, a refreshing beverage, a blanket to spread, and head for a park near you. To help narrow the playing field, Keith Pandeloglou, the president and CEO of Lakewood Ranch Community Activities, supplied a short list of some pleasant picnic spots:

Bob Gardner Community Park

This mile-long community park is nestled between wetland preserves and conservation areas. Picnic tables are scattered throughout its unspoiled, wild beauty — but you can always find your own private corner to create your perfect picnic landscape.

If You Go: 2710 White Eagle Blvd., Lakewood Ranch; 941-727-1505.

Greenbrook Adventure Park

Looking for a moving experience? This park offers plenty of options. Greenbrook’s inline skating track, sports fields, paw parks and trails will get your heart pumping. After all that activity, it’s time to spread your picnic. The park has a quiet side of rolling green fields and picnic pavilions with grills where you can cook up sizzling feasts.

If You Go: 13010 Adventure Place, Lakewood Ranch; 941-907-0202; MyLWR.com/870/Greenbrook-Adventure-Park.

Heron's Nest Nature Park

Heron’s Nest’s picnic pavilion is an outstanding outdoor dining command center.

Tables in a covered dining area? Check. Central location? Check. Outdoor picnic tables strategically positioned in scenic spots? Easy access to nature trails for that postprandial promenade? Double-check.

All you need to supply is the bread, some beverages, and that special someone you call “thou.” Bon appétit!

Nathan Benderson Park

This 600-acre park is all about having fun —

naturally. Hundreds of people flock here every day to bike, rollerblade, walk dogs, run, row and paddle.

Stephen V. Rodriguez is the president of the Nathan Benderson Park Conservatory. How does he describe this athletic paradise?

“All of our community programming has a health and wellness theme while also emphasizing the unique attributes of the park,” he says. “The aquatic side is especially important.” Rodriguez adds that Benderson Park offers plenty of stressbusters. Here are a few of his favorites:

What’s Rodriguez’ favorite stress-free zone? “The spot by the canal — where the lake flows into Cooper Creek,” he says. “It’s right next to the finish line of the main rowing racecourse. It’s a great location with some beautiful native trees and picnic tables in the shade.” Sounds delightful.

Sunday at Waterside Park

This 8-acre park is on the shores of Kingfisher Lake. Sunday’s a swell day to visit. Start with a free, one-hour yoga class at 9 a.m., and then saunter across the footbridge to the bustling farmers market at Waterside Place.

Peaceful Path, Labyrinth and Sound Garden at Peace Presbyterian Church

You’ll find this ¼-mile stretch of nature, art and sound about six miles east of Lakewood Ranch Blvd. What will you find? The sign at the path entrance says it all: “All are welcome. Walk, meditate, rest and pray.”

Jamie Reagan and Toni Muirhead created this path a few years back. For them, it was both a labor of love and an act of faith. Building a community of peace is their church’s mission. They saw the Peaceful Path as a step in that direction.

According to Reagan, this path is good for both body and soul.

“People are searching for a safe, quiet place to relax and think, and breathe,” says Reagan. “Walking in nature increases your health and psychological wellbeing.”

Muirhead notes that the Peaceful Path is constantly evolving — like nature itself. “We were originally only going to have natural artwork,” she says. “But after someone deposited a giant porpoise statue, we had a major philosophical change.” She adds that hundreds of painted “kindness” rocks soon joined Flipper. Who painted them? “The artist is still a mystery,” she says.

The Path’s evolution didn’t stop with these new arrivals. Thanks to grants, a children’s outdoor sensory musical environment boasting a giant xylophone and five outdoor musical flowers were also added. Most recently, the co-directors, working with the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, completed a plant identification project, and a “happiness trail,” designed to evoke laughter, is being planned. The first female Eagle Scouts of Manatee County also created the small labyrinth at the trail’s end.

Sarasota Audubon Nature Center at the Celery Fields

The Sarasota Audubon Nature Center is a haven for birds and heaven for bird-lovers. This ornithological oasis is located on one acre of the Celery Fields, a 400-acre site that’s part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.

The Nature Center is an all-volunteer teaching environment staffed with “bird naturalists” (aka docents). You can join them on guided birding trips, family fun days, and a host of conservation projects. Or you can sit and enjoy the view.

Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota Audubon’s president recommends the gazebo in the bird-feeding area. “If you sit there patiently, you’ll see painted buntings, parakeets, and other birds come to feed,” she says.

Depending on the time of year, bird naturalists are stationed each day on the two boardwalks by the Celery Fields, equipped with telescopes and answers to birding questions. As the boardwalks overlook the wetlands, expect to see herons, egrets, ibis and the brilliantly colored purple gallinule.

According to Dubi, more birds will be flocking here in the future. That’s no accident. Thanks to a partnership between the Sarasota Audubon Society and the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, a 27-acre woodland habitat will be developed to attract cardinals, woodpeckers, and many more “backyard” birds.

If You Go: 999 Center Road, Sarasota; 941-312-6533; SarasotaAudubon.org.

Heartwood Yoga Institute

The yoga retreat on this 7-acre property offers a full spectrum of yoga and meditation classes, therapy, teacher training programs, workshops and spiritual retreats.

Its treasure trove of meditative and spiritual environments also includes a chakra garden, meditation gazebo, medicine wheel and an 11-circuit labyrinth. It’s all designed to provide a deeper yogic experience to students.

The Yoga Barre

This one-stop wellness center, founded by Janette Brown, lets you practice many forms of yoga (including Himalayan!), learn about healing botanicals, create art from objects found in nature, and attend spiritual and healing workshops.

Zooey Seraphine Ibarra’s Full Moon Sound Bath uses power of sonic vibration to release stress, quiet the mind, and send the listener on an inner meditative and healing journey.

If You Go: 4124 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Lakewood Ranch; 941-867-0812; LWRYogaBarre.com.

“EcoWalks” Guided Nature Tours

Dr. Katherine Clements is a natural resources educator and nature lover. Clements developed her “EcoWalks” to share that love. According to Clements, “They’re interpretive, guided walks through Sarasota County’s various preserves and natural areas.” Most EcoTours explore the plants and animals of our regional ecosystems. These ecological encounters are grounded in science and stress the connection between a healthy natural environment and individual health. Clements “Meditations in the Parks” are grounded in the Japanese meditative practice of “shinrin-yoku” or forest bathing. EcoWalks are always free, whatever form they take.

Did you know you can eat a rose? In fact, they’re healthy.

Roses contain antioxidants and are high in vitamin C and vitamin A and rose petals make a sweetly fragrant tea.

How about brightening your life with a beautiful bouquet? Fantasy Flowers of Lakewood Ranch can make your rose fantasies come true.

If You Go: 8111 Lakewood Ranch Main St., Building J, Suite 101, Lakewood Ranch; 500-1000; FantasyFlowersLWR.com.

IOWA CITY — This was a no-doubter.

The real drama surrounding Caitlin Clark and late-season women’s basketball awards? That will continue two more weeks.

For the second straight year, Clark was unanimously named first-team All-America by the Associated Press. The teams were announced Wednesday morning.

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The AP panel consists of 28 voters nationwide.

The rest of the first team consists of reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, as well as Angel Reese (LSU), Maddy Siegrist (Villanova) and Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana).

AP player of the year — Clark and Boston are the front-runners for the award — will be announced March 30, as well as its coach of the year.

A 6-foot junior guard at the University of Iowa, Clark is averaging 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and an NCAA-best 8.3 assists per game.

She has recorded four triple-doubles this season, including a 30-point, 10-rebound, 17-assist dandy in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State.

The third-ranked Hawkeyes (26-6) open NCAA tournament play at 3 p.m. Friday at a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Southeastern Louisiana (21-9).

Clark was a second-team AP All-American as a freshman in 2021, then a unanimous first-team pick last year. She ranks second all-time at Iowa in career points (2,526) and career assists (738), 18th in career rebounds (672).

Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, who came back for a fifth season and led the Cyclones to a Big 12 tournament championship, earned third-team honors.

She is averaging 21.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game and has scored more than 3,000 points in her career.

No. 17 Iowa State (22-9) faces Toledo (28-4) in an NCAA first-round game at 2:30 p.m. (Iowa time) Saturday at Knoxville, Tenn.

An Iowa City native, Joens was a second-teamer last year.

Iowa’s Monika Czinano earned honorable-mention All-America status for the second straight year. The fifth-year senior averaged 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, shooting 67.4 percent from the field.

FIRST TEAM

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina. 6-5, senior, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., 20 double-doubles, 13.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 56.8 FG%, 2 bpg (28 of 28 first place votes, 140 points).

Caitlin Clark, Iowa. 6-0, junior, West Des Moines, Iowa, 27 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 8.3 apg, 46.9 FG%, 37.9 3FG% (28, 140).

Maddy Siegrist, Villanova. 6-2, senior, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 28.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 51.8 FG%, 37.3% 3FG% (19, 118).

Angel Reese, LSU. 6-3, sophomore, Baltimore, Md., 23.4 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 54 FG%, 1.4 bpg (12, 98).

Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana. 6-3, senior, Gorham, Maine, 68.8 fg%, 22.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 apg (9, 86).

SECOND TEAM

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech. 6-6, senior, Summerfield, N.C., 18.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 56.3 FG%, 1.4 apg (6, 83).

Cameron Brink, Stanford. 6-4, junior, Beaverton, Ore., 14.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 49 FG% (8, 81).

Diamond Miller, Maryland. 6-3, senior, Somerset, N.J., 19.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 47.7 FG% (6, 81).

Olivia Miles, Notre Dame. 5-10, sophomore, Phillipsburg, N.J., 14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.9 apg, 46 FG% (8, 75).

Alissa Pili, Utah. 6-2, junior, Anchorage, Alaska, 20.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 58.5 FG%, 42.9 3FG% (7, 69).

THIRD TEAM

Ashley Joens, Iowa State. 6-1, senior, Iowa City, Iowa, 21.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2 apg, 1.1 spg (3, 51).

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn. 6-3, junior, Ontario, Canada, 9.2 rpg, 16.6 ppg, 57.3 FG%, 2.4 apg (0, 40).

Aneesah Morrow, DePaul. 6-1, sophomore, Chicago, Ill., 25.7 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2 apg, 2.6 spg (1, 38).

Haley Jones, Stanford. 6-1, senior, Santa Cruz, Calif., 9.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 13.4 ppg, 1 bpg (1, 32).

Zia Cooke, South Carolina. 5-9, senior, Toledo, Ohio, 15.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 40.8 FG% (1, 20).

HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetic order)

Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech; Brea Beal, South Carolina; Grace Berger, Indiana; Leigha Brown, Michigan; Sonia Citron, Notre Dame; Makira Cook, Illinois; Monika Czinano, Iowa; Rori Harmon, Texas; McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State; Jordan Horston, Tennessee; Rickea Jackson, Tennessee; Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State; Charlisse Leger-Walker, Washington State; Lou Lopez Senechal, UConn; Nika Muhl, UConn; Charisma Osborne, UCLA; Celeste Taylor, Duke; Kaylynne Truong, Gonzaga; Hailey Van Lith, Louisville; Keishana Washington, Drexel; Madi Williams, Oklahoma.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com

NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

As NASA prepares to return to the Moon – this time with an eye toward Mars – developing new technologies for living and working on other planetary bodies is a critical focus. This requires turning innovative concepts into reality, something the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works has been doing since its inception 10 years ago.

“We are at a unique point in history where we’re closer to our goal of exploring Mars than ever before,” said Burt Summerfield, Kennedy’s associate director of management. “I’m proud of everything this team has done, and I am even more excited to see what they come up with in the next 10 years.”

Back in 2013, Swamp Works co-founder Rob Mueller and a few colleagues drew inspiration from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works in California, proposing a facility devoted to innovation and leveraging skills and capabilities across Kennedy. Today, Swamp Works focuses on granular mechanics and regolith operations (GMRO), applied chemistry, electrostatics and surface physics, advanced materials and systems, applied physics, and corrosion technology.

“Rather than the transportation of getting into space, Swamp Works is mainly concerned with what you do when you get there,” Mueller said. “That requires innovation of new technologies, and Swamp Works encourages that innovation.”

Swamp Works uses a “lean management” approach, and collaboration is key.

“We’re working off-planet challenges that have never been solved before,” said David Miranda, chief of the Spaceport Technologies Office and manager of the research team in the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab.

These labs encourage researchers to think outside of the box and use a hands-on approach to continuously build and test technology concepts. Tests are performed in the early stages of technology development, where failure is an allowable and important component necessary for driving design improvements.

“Not every idea gets selected for maturation and infusion – in fact, most do not,” said Exploration Systems and Development Office Manager Greg Clements. “The ideas that show promise and have a customer advocate can be advanced and tested to see how they could address a capability gap. We have an exceptionally talented team with the drive, determination, and commitment to work a problem until they arrive at a solution.”

The agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) lunar delivery will send the Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) and the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO). MSOLO, developed and tested within a lab at Swamp Works, is a commercial-off-the-shelf mass spectrometer which will analyze TRIDENT’s drill cuttings for water and other chemical compounds. Kennedy is leading the PRIME-1 lunar delivery, which will be the first lunar in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) mission – demonstrating the ability to generate useful products with local materials.

Other Swamp Works technology demonstrations were selected to fly to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Also on a CLPS flight is the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which has been in development for over 20 years as a way to repel dust from vehicles and equipment on the Moon. The ISRU Pilot Excavator, a lightweight robot that will demonstrate digging up to 10 metric tons of regolith on the Moon, is planned to launch on a commercial lander in the future.

“We can’t replicate the lunar environment here on Earth, so we’re forced to solve problems in new ways,” said Charles Buhler, lead scientist in the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab at Swamp Works and EDS principal investigator. “It’s nice to innovate with electrostatics in mind, because it’s absolutely going to be necessary in space.”

Just as NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and commercial resupply services missions rely on commercial companies to provide transportation to and from the International Space Station, Mueller envisions a future where technologies developed at Swamp Works are handed off to private industry once they’ve matured, leaving room for Swamp Works to begin innovating again.

“That’s really the new operating model, the new trend, in the space industry, and Swamp Works is very well positioned because we can take risks on some technologies that private industry can’t,” he said.

In addition to using the resources and expertise of the government, Swamp Works partners with and learns from private industry through initiatives such as the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, as well as academia. As a result, a mixed team of government employees, small and large companies, and educational professionals innovate together to help shape the future of space exploration.

“Being a part of the amazing work that occurs at Swamp Works is such an honor,” said Kathy Loftin, Kennedy’s chief technologist. “It’s inspiring to be working at the cusp of emerging technologies that will help us learn to live sustainably in space.”

To learn more about Swamp Works and its capabilities, click here.

Medical network University of Florida Health will expand its reach in Marion County with a recent land purchase in the Summerfield community at the southern edge of the county near The Villages.

A deed shows the transaction took place on Oct. 7 between Novia Group, LLC and Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc.

UF Health paid around $2.21 million for the property of nearly 27 acres west of U.S. Highway 441 but has not disclosed plans for development.

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“We recently acquired land in the Summerfield area of Marion County,” an email statement from UF Health spokesperson Ken Garcia said. “UF Health currently has primary care and specialty practices located throughout Ocala and in Summerfield, including family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health and orthopaedic services, among others.”

Three separate parcels make up the 26.92 acres of land listed under address 14950 S. Highway 441 on realtor.com.

The vacant property is adjacent to a Kangaroo Express to its north along U.S. 441 and Southeast Sunset Harbor Road. It borders several small buildings to the south, but the property has no development currently.

According to the Marion County Property Appraiser's website, the land is currently zoned as B2, or community business classification, which allows for shops and service providers.

“Residents of Marion County have always sought medical care from UF Health in Gainesville,” the statement said. “Our commitment is to bring UF Health caliber care closer to the residents of the county. This acquisition is a next step in furthering UF Health’s efforts to support that vision.”

UF Health is known for its UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and UF Health hospital in Jacksonville, but it has providers and services across the state. It also has hospitals in Leesburg and The Villages in neighboring Lake and Sumter counties. The Villages hospital is only five miles southeast of the property on U.S. 441.

“While we do not have specific plans for this property, we continue to evaluate how to best align UF Health’s clinical, research and education efforts to best meet the needs of the local community,” the statement said.

In addition to its hospitals, UF Health’s website shows the network includes emergency rooms, labs, pharmacies, primary care, dentistry and specialty care ranging from cancer treatment to plastic surgery.

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.

It was an opportunity to consolidate his operation, be in a central location he has a great fondness for, and spend more time with the horses going through his program.

Classic winning trainer Kenny McPeek opened the Summerfield Training Center Oct. 26, on the site of the former Padua Stables and Silverleaf Farm.

McPeek purchased the portion of the property that includes the six furlong training track and four 24-stall barns. The new facility allows McPeek to oversee the preponderance of the depth of his stable from one place.

“Two winters ago, I had a group of horses, 22 at Oaklawn, 22 at the Fair Grounds, 22 at Payson Park, 20 at Keeneland and 35 at farms in Ocala and at Magdalena (his farm in Kentucky),” said McPeek. “We had six divisions. Having business is great. We did fine. We had good people in all spots. But logistically it was difficult. I didn’t enjoy that setup. It’s a consolidation, and I believe that with any army, if you consolidate your army, you’re going to be stronger together. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

No stranger to Ocala and Marion County, Florida, McPeek has been coming to the area for years, and loves the environment. A familiar name will be managing the farm, someone who has spent more than three decades in Ocala.

“I have a lot of friends here, and my main colleague is Dominic Brennan,” said McPeek. “He’s a guy I’ve worked with for decades. He’s been instrumental in developing a lot of horses for me. The big names in my career were Take Charge Lady, Repent and Curlin, and Domenic handled those, He handled breaking Einstein. He’s a fantastic horseman He’s overseeing the babies here, of course with me here, I’m able to watch them.”

The property itself has all of the necessary infrastructure intact, and although the racetrack had to be graded and there were details that needed to be addressed, Summerfield Training Center is a welcome addition to a very busy and renowned Thoroughbred community.

“It’s an ideal setup, you can’t complain, it has everything you want,” said McPeek. “It’s a beautiful place.”

Dominic Brennan first came to Ocala at the suggestion of Tony Everard, the original owner of Another Episode Farm, when Everard was back in his native country, Ireland.

“He happened to be home on vacation and we got to talking,” said Brennan. “He said, ‘Come on, give it a try.’ So, me and a buddy came out for about six months in 1983. I went back home, stayed for a month or two and came back. The rest is history.”

Brennan has seen the area develop from a sleepy little town, to a place whose growth and expansion have changed the dynamics of central Florida markedly.

“It’s a great place, a little hot during the summer, but you make up for it in the winter,” said Brennan. “I’ve never been a city person. I’ve always been a bit of a country boy. When I got here with all the farms, I just stayed.”

However, it’s Brennan’s reputation as a horseman, where he develops young horses into racehorses, many of them going onto to become stakes winners, champions and in the case of Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year.

“The first time I met Kenny was the first time they had the 2-year-old sales at Keeneland, which I want to say was 1990 or 1992,” said Brennan. “He was the only trainer up in the barn, where they have the sales barns up on top of the hill. I was fixing to leave after the sale. He said, ‘If I buy some babies, I like the way your babies were broke and the way they go, if I send them down, will you break them.’ That’s where it started. I short list at the sale for him, and then do the babies with them. It’s been a successful mission for quite a few years.”

Brennan after leaving Another Epsiode, went to work for Gail Gee at Derby Daze, and then relocated to the Oak Ridge Training Center prior to his role at the Summerfield Training Center.

“He’s (McPeek) always wanted something like that down here,” said Brennan. “We got to talking about it in September. I was with him when he talked to Joan Pletcher about property down here, and she had mentioned this place, and it was kind of a little bit too much money with what they were asking for it.

“The next thing I know, he’s in Ocala, I got a phone call, and we end up coming down here, and that was the start of it. We have a really good bunch of yearlings right now that are fixing to turn 2-years-olds, physically and mentally, and the way they’re going, they’re a good bunch. Fingers crossed that we’re on the Derby trail or Oaks Trail next year. It’s a solid bunch.”

By Ben Baugh

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