The End of the Swamp

This is the rest of the swamp story. We awoke the next morning early and loaded our stuff in the canoe. Not far down the creek we came to that tree I saw the night before that had fallen across the waterway. It looked as if it had been there for quite a while. We laid in the bottom of the canoe and pulled the canoe under the tree. We were covered with spider webs when we got to the other side. Obviously no one had been this way in some time. I was beginning to wonder again if we were going the right way. We continued on as the waterway narrowed. It eventually became a ditch with barely enough water in it to keep the canoe afloat. We moved the canoe along by pushing against the side of the ditch with the paddles. The vegetation was thick and at times blocked the waterway. We encountered dozens of huge spider webs that stretched across the ditch. Finally, the ditch began to get wider and the water deeper. Fish were jumping out of the water. Several of them landed in the boat and we threw them back in the water. Then we came into a river. At last we had found something we could identify on that map. It was the Suwanee River. By this time we were snarling at each other again and in the wide river we were having a problem guiding the canoe again. I just gave up and let the river take us along. At times we were floating down the river sideways. The landing where we were to meet the man to take us back where we started came into sight. We loaded the canoe on his truck and began the 40 mile trip by road back to the other side of the swamp. The silence was thicker than the spider webs we encountered earlier. When we arrived back at our starting point, everyone was talking about the huge alligator that attacked and killed a smaller alligator in the cove where they kept the canoes. If that would have happened the day before, there would be no story to write about. Earlier today, I checked the Okefenokee Swamp website. Apparently they don't allow the public to take the kind of trip we took anymore. They do allow day trips in rented canoes, but they also give a warning. If we have to send a rescue team out for you, you will have to pay the cost of the rescue. I don't think that was even an option when we took the trip. In fact, if we had not found our way out, they would still be charging us rent on the canoe.

Alligators, Snakes and Monkeys

The Post and Courier has a story this morning about the TryCharleston event. There seems to be concerns about the swimming part of the event. It takes place in an alligator infested lake. It just doesn't seem to be a good idea from a PR standpoint to call it a half Ironman triathlon when you might come out of the lake as half of an Ironman.

This story brought back memories of of an adventure I had back in the early '80s. A friend of mine and I decided to take a trip through the alligator and snake infested Okefenokee Swamp close to the Georgia-Florida border. We rented a canoe and took enough food for two days. This was the first time that either my friend or I had been in a canoe. We weren't well prepared for this adventure. We had a crude map provided by the park service, but as we paddled our way through the swamp it became increasingly confusing as to which way we should go. There were only a few markers and too many opportunities to go in the wrong direction. The whole trip was supposed to be about 26 miles and take two days. After about 5 miles, I had the same feeling I had on my first and last skydiving trip. It was that feeling that I felt just after I jumped out of the airplane and before the parachute opened...exhilarating nausea. But that's another story. As we ventured further into the swamp, we passed one hungry looking alligator after another. They stared at us as if they were sizing us up for their next meal. Will it be the skinny one in the front or the big one in the back. As the sun was setting, we reached the the small two man tent set up on a small platform in the middle of the swamp. It was a relief to get a break from snarling at each other. That was due mostly from the frustration of my friend continually trying to guide the canoe from the front. I wasn't an expert on canoeing, but after a few miles into the swamp...I could tell that the person in the back of the boat should be the one guiding it. So with great relief, we had made it to the half-way point of the trip. More later.

This movie reviewing business is getting complicated. I was calling the movies some family members like "vanilla", but that doesn't seem to be the kind of strict standard that is needed. If you've heard of Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru, then you're on the right track. The standard needed for this category formally known as "vanilla" should be called the MKI standard. If it meets the MKI standard, people with movie tastes like Mom can look at it without fear of being offended. The MKI standard is based on the three monkeys...Mizaru (see no evil), Kikazaru (hear no evil) and Iwazaru (speak no evil). There actually is a fourth monkey...Shizaru (do no evil), but what's that got to do with looking at a movie? I thought about changing the order of the monkeys so that it would be the KIM standard, but I'm not sure my niece would appreciate that.

I have reviewed two movies, "Up" and "Everybody's Fine" that meet the MKI standard. I reviewed another one tonight that also meets the MKI standard. "The Blindside" was a pretty good movie. Sandra Bullock got an Oscar for her performance in that movie. All through the movie I was trying to figure out who the actor was that played Sandra Bullock's husband. In the credits I saw that it was the singer, Tim McGraw. I think that was the first time I saw him without a cowboy hat. I would give this movie 3.5 stars.