I just met another kayaker who was excited about her “new find.”

She went on to talk with great enthusiasm about the perfect kayaking place she just discovered.

“It’s totally off the beaten path but you won’t believe how nifty it is to kayak there. It’s like you’re a great explorer in uncharted water,” she said.

Ever so helpful, she offered to draw me a map so I could find this out of the way place.

“It’s called the Woolverton Trail,” she told me.

I asked if she knew anything about how the “amazing trail through mangrove tunnels “came into being. She didn’t. Of course not. New kayakers traveling the water trail through thick mangroves often get the feeling they stumbled upon something new.

It’s actually been there for more than 20 years and the story behind it is interesting.

We owe the discovery of the trail to a fascinating fellow named Edwin Woolverton. A true outdoors man, Ed had a little mobile home near the water and spent countless days exploring every inch of our Florida water waterway.

He also liked to study old maps. When he saw what looked to be a winding tunnel through the waterway near his house, he was intrigued enough to try to find it.

But like others, he saw nothing more than thick mangroves. By studying the old map, he saw where an old water trail used to be. He spent months cutting away the thick mangroves that were hiding the trail. He learned the trail was put there decades ago for mosquito control, then it was forgotten about as mangroves took over.

When he shared his discovery with an environmentalist who ran boat tours in the area, she was as excited as Woolverton. She knew it was going to be a major find for paddlers.

For more than two decades Ed and his family kept trimming the mangroves to keep the trail open for paddlers.

Ed was honored by the county and the tourist industry that named the trail after him.

I’m happy to say I was the first newspaper writer to tell the story behind the Woolverton trail.

Something happened when I interviewed Ed, who was probably in his 80s. I fell in love, totally captivated by his approach to life.

He gave out name cards that summed his life’s philosophy. Instead of listing what he did, under his name the card said: “Witness to the Wonder of it All.”

He had many grand achievements but knew the most important he wanted others to know was the awe he felt for this glorious trip we call “life.”

Ed had a keen appreciation for the great outdoors and said he never gets over feeling awed by all of creation.

I visited him many times over the years, drawn by his love of nature and his unfailing enthusiasm of every little thing. He never ran out of great stories to tell me, all of which were based on his incredible life.

He had saved up money but I don’t believe he ever spent any because everything he wanted and valued was free.

He did extensive traveling, claiming he visited every continent. But that cost him little because he was a Servas host, which meant he stayed for free with local families. In turn, those family stayed with him when they visited America.

He lived in a modest mobile home, but his foreign visitors must have liked the experience because they kept returning through the years.

Even in his 90s he thrived on being outdoors in his jon boat and walked for miles each day.

His unusual way of staying fit was to go up and down on a tall ladder every day.

When I was there one day he lectured a 70-year-old visitor, pounding on the man’s back and saying: “Stand straight. Stop hunching over like an old man.”

Ed lived to be 101, and he relished every day. I think it was his physical activity and keen appreciation of every little thing in life that let him live to have so many candles on his birthday cake.

I have so many interesting stories I could tell you about Ed, but I think nothing could tell it better than the name cards he handled out - Witness to the Wonder of it all.

Those words stay with me because I, too, am caught up in the grandeur of life.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for letting me witness for yet another day the wonder of it all.

The older I get, the more I tune into the awe of everyday life. I say thank you for every little thing.

Yesterday I expressed great appreciation for our abundant fruit-bearing trees, especially the mangoes I love.

That’s something Ed and I had in common - our keen appreciation for every little thing. We both found joy by zeroing in on life’s small pleasures. And we both thrived on being outdoors.

When Ed passed away, in lieu of flowers, his family suggested this way to honor him: Spend at least an hour outdoors, walking, fishing or paddling while you contemplate “the wonder of it all.”

I continue to do exactly that, thinking of Ed and thanking the creator for the wonder of it all.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.