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Cypress Swamp

The cypress swamp. Tannins from the trees turn the water dark (blackwater). A cool thing about cypress swamps (even though they’re hot and sweaty) is that these chemicals from the trees discourage mosquitoes as well. There are plenty of bugs, but not many mosquitoes.

Paddling the blackwater.

A little batch of Water Skaters.

A red-shouldered hawk calling in the background.

And deep in the swamp.

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Saturday

South Carolina. Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort. Outdoor Resorts. Quite a switch from the State Park in the cypress swamp. Nice to have full hookups for a few days.

85 degrees (it’s 20 in Denver today). An afternoon thundershower (I was out for a walk). It’s all good (a little wet, but good).
Altitude: sea level.
Miles: 7,420.
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Staying on task

  A neighbor asked to borrow a corkscrew.  Judy stayed and talked while I went into the house to get it.  I walked into the motorhome and promptly forgot why I was there.  Not willing to go back outside, I stood in one spot until it came to me: I had gone inside to record the birds I had seen today.  It didn’t seem to be that urgent, writing down birds, so I chose to do something more pressing: clean the inside of the windshield with Windex before it got dark.  I was doing a pretty good job too until Judy asked if I was having trouble finding the corkscrew.   It’s so hard to get anything done with these constant interruptions.    
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Follow-up


Follow-up on that funny looking fruit on the ground in Missouri

Answers from several people with mid-western roots. Osage Orange. Hedge Apple. Commonly planted in prairie states as a windbreak hedge. It grows fast and thick and has thorns. It was used as a cattle fence before barbed wire.

The wood is heavy and close grained. It was used to produce bows (for bows and arrows). It burns super hot. It makes good fence posts.

The fruit is inedible. (Actually, you *can* eat it, but it will probably make you vomit.) It has a white milky juice inside. People put them in their basements to deter spiders and mice.

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Wednesday

Georgia pines.
Warm southern rain.
Sixty-eight degrees at dawn.
We drove past Atlanta and Macon. Settled at George L Smith State Park north of Interstate 16, east of Savannah.

Elevation: 308 feet.7,295 miles.78 degrees tonight.