"Fortunately When Words Fail, Pictures Speak"

We used to rent inner tubes and slide into the icy water by the following method: toe first, feet first, then back off.  Stand there, rub your stomach, shiver, rub the goose bumps on your arms and legs.  Finally, suck your stomach in and plunge, head first, bracing yourself for the stinging waters and finally come up for air while hollering out:  "IT'S NOT THAT BAD AT ALL!"

Some of us were not brave, so we'd sort of wedge our back across the top of the inner tube to keep the top half of our body dry, and then we'd sort of slide backward into the middle of the donut, wiggling into place and wincing as the cold water came up underneath and stung our butts. Keeps the shoulders dry and your hair dry, too.

But even that was dangerous cause if anyone saw  you doing it that way, they'd flip the tube over and you'd go in the water face first, screaming the whole way in.   

The river ran slowly, very slowly.  It was definitely a lazy afternoon's work.  We'd float down the river underneath a canopy of oaks and pines, watching for the snakes and the gators.  I never saw a gator but I knew they lived there.  I saw a few snakes but I am still alive to tell about it.  Never really heard of anyone getting bit while in the water.

The water was clear, so clear and pristine, you could see what was swimming down there on the bottom.
Some days, I didn't want to know.

Today I headed over to see what  Florida photographer John Moran has been up to lately. Unfortunately, this is what I read on his site:

The Ichetucknee has long been heralded as Florida's most pristine river, but in recent years a dramatic spike in the level of nitrates in the groundwater feeding the springs has fueled the growth of noxious algae, a thick sludge that is choking native river grass and upsetting a delicate balance of flora and fauna thousands of years in the making. The sacred river is polluted. Fertilizer from farms and homes, animal waste, stormwater runoff, failing septic tanks and Lake City's municipal wastewater spray field have all been implicated. Public awareness is rising, and a river awaits a solution.

Florida.  Sometimes you just drive me crazy.  I was about to spit out a five page rant on how we allow our waterways to be destroyed so slowly, so easily, in the name of "progress".

Instead, I'll just link once again to John Moran's, The Journal of Light.  I've written about this video before, it's well worth a repeat. Click the the link on the lower left side of the page. It's photo for thought.

Fireflies on the Itchetucknee, John Moran.

Comments

[sara sue]

How can this be so beautiful, haunting, and sad, all at the same time?

[Janet]

wow, that photo is amazing!

[kenju]

It's really sad to me that we allow things like that to happen.

[Deana]

That photo is surreal. I hope public awareness surges and the river can be saved.

[FC]

I tubed the 'Tucknee just last week and entered the tube the same way you described by the way.

It was an overcast day, and I floated instead of spending the whole time snorkeling as is my habit. It gave me time to observe, think, and compare. I've been coming to the 'Tucknee since I was in the 7th grade ...1970. At that time it was not the park managed attraction it is now and the bottom was trashy with litter, but the water was air clear with a bluish, not greenish hue.
It's still a gorgeous river, but the tint now is green, the sparkly white bottom not so sparkly white, and the clear water not up to air standards.
This river is like a beautiful woman with the preflu sniffles. She's sick, but she's still so beautiful, nobody's paying attention to how she feels.

[Old Horsetail Snake]

So I guess this is one more place where they tell you "Don't drink the water."

[kenju]

Re the names: Laura is another one I might have chosen for myself. That song has always haunted me since I learned it play it on the piano.