Swamp Things

I should have but I didn't. I should have stayed home yesterday and cleaned house but instead of doing what I should have, I went through the swamp to visit my friend Peg. It was just such a nice fall day minus any humidity and high heat and a drive was just the ticket.

I cruised through Lake Martin Road slowly following the 35 mph speed limit posted on this dirt road. Cars and trucks edged the road on the swamp side scanning for alligators and other swamp creatures. The water was green with algae, cypress knees poking up through the murk and an occasional egret swooping in to pick something out of the swamp. Just another day for the swamp creatures. I still haven't seen a neutra rat this year. The swamp used to be full of them along with the turtles crouched on the limbs and fallen trees that are scattered throughout the area. I haven't heard from anyone here the reason all the neutra rats have disappeared. Maybe I'll start enquiring.

The big gator I've seen on my past trips through the swamp this summer was in his usual place. The thing that was different this time was there was some animal floating on it's back, with it's legs stiffly pointed skyward, bloated and covered in flies. The alligator spotted it and slowly started gliding toward it. I wasn't planning on stopping and watching the gators but this made me pause to see what that big ole gator would do with this tasty morsel of bloated fly infested meat.

He glided up to it and eased around it and then he nudged it with his snout. He shoved it around in the water a few times then opened wide his mouth and just before he clamped down on it I bolted. With my foot pressed on the accelerator, I shot forward and out of view of the gator's first bite into this gaseous mess. I can only imagine what that sight must have been like and I'm still trying to erase that mental picture. I understand this is nature at it's finest but it's something I didn't care to record on such a pretty day.

Today Carrie and I are busily doing our housework. She understands the concept of cleaning; it's something I want to instill in her. Tidy and organized. She is taught to pick up her toys and put them away, to wipe up her own spills and she helps me by dusting.

Independence is a good thing and I want her to learn to be independent.