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My Swamp is slowly recuperating from the onslaught of flooding resulting from the massive clear cutting and invasion of asphalt and concrete connected to unchecked development in my beloved Brunswick County. The lesson to be learned here is that Nature shall and always will prevail and create her own wetlands to remediate those destroyed from the loss of protections once rigidly enforced by the Army Corp of Engineers here in NC. This has been our warning shot. Will we pay attention? Some of us will... What about you? Do you hear the message the voices in the wind and the waters are speaking of? If not, I suggest you listen a bit more closely and pay rapt attention as if your very life depends on it. Because it does...  Happy to report that the work on the road over the dam on Orton Pond to Brunswick Town is coming along. Compared to the disheartened feeling that overcame me the last time I visited I'll take hope any time! Two major washouts remain on the far end but dirt has replaced the chasm that once existed. Water still remains in the pond but of course the level has dropped drastically. I spotted three of my scuted friends but none of my usual buddies. Mixed emotions there but at least a few survived the torrential washout downstream. I wasn't quick enough to catch one as it submerged when I took aim with my camera.   Hazel Mae surveys the progress and changes to one of our favorite spots on earth. Thankfully the presence of the quieted heavy equipment doesn't seem to bother the local egrets who have arrived in force to take advantage of foraging in the newly churned up landscape downstream of the spillway. I am certain there is a veritable buffet of foodstuffs available for the picking. Their raucous Pterodactyl like cries pierce the air and lend an eerie and unsettling prehistoric flavor to the atmosphere - just like a Swamp should feel. I'll leave you with this…  It was a day for Dragons, both the extraterrestrial and amphibious types. What a rarity! To say I was in Heaven was quite the understatement. It was the Sunday before TS Debby paid a visit to Brunswick County, making it all the more monumental for me. As always, the prismatic but tattered winged blue dragon cast its spell of calm over my jangled psyche. As it lit upon on my hand, I could barely contain my excitement. Talk about lucky! This sun bleached old sky pilot whose translucent wings bore battle scars from winds, rains and predators lent me it's time worn courage to face this next coming storm. I had come to check on my favorite Gator on TS Debby's approach. I found him basking in the sun on his little beach totally unconcerned by all the hype being thrown my way on the TV and radio. I absorbed his calm as well, wondering how many tropical systems this ancient warrior had survived... My old dragon seemingly communicated to me to just chillax, to ride it out and trust my own survival skills as we both have faced much worse and come out stronger ... My Dragonfly zipped and zagged, returned to the pond side darting in and out of the grasses and brush and then back to me. This magical creature came back to me 5 times to light and rest upon my hand and foot. I felt so privileged! I was filled with such a sense of gratitude and awe as a second wild one kept circling and landing on my finger. Was it attracted to my Spessartite garnet ring, my favorite color of Orange or the warmth of my finger?? Who knows? Who cares? What mattered most was the special bond I feel with nature was exponentially multiplied in my mind on that day as I communed with my Popeye Gator before yet another storm was forecast to hit my beloved Cape Fear region. I left with an indescribable sense of peace that totally overwhelmed me that day. Like a grandfather tired from entertaining young children, my Popeye Gator let me know that he was bored with my visit by closing his eyes to rest before the storm kicked up. I took his advice to go home and get some rest myself. No more storm prepping. It was going to be ok. There is so much to be learned from Nature, if we only simply choose to watch and listen and feel. And, most importantly, to trust our ownselves.
 Till later My Gator...  In the eerie after storm light of a torrential downpour last Friday, I trekked to my favorite Gatortat to see if anyone was available for a quiet conversation. I needed the calm that I can derive only from sharing space with my scuted dragon friends from an ancient bygone era when dinosaurs ruled the earth. I needed their strength, perseverance and sheer tenacity to survive in an ever-changing environment thru simple instinct with no tools other than patience and the will to live. The air was still filled with electricity and thunder rumbled ominously across the pond as a light rain sputtered on the mirrored water's surface. After drinking in a scene that could have just as easily belonged to a time long forgotten millennia ago, I headed for my final destination - the dragon king's lair. 
Oddly enough, I found my friend to be in as much of a state of agitation after this deluge as I was. My agita quickly melted into a rapt fascination however as I observed him surveying his environment in a constant motion that is most unusual for my scaley companion. Normally he lies in such a state of repose I wonder if he's even still breathing until that nictitating membrane slides transversely over his otherwise unblinking marble black eye. 
Heavy rains stir up detritus and debris from the sandy bottom and I watched my boy slowly sweeping the water for tasty morsels of food suspended in the tannic waters. As if to entertain me, he playfully nudged then grabbed a grass reed as if to say “How'd ya like that?”
I left my old friend with a heart full of peace and well-being so I took in the sunset over Lilliput Creek on the way home. After all, what are tried and true friends for but to lift one another up in these most uncertain of times? Although no dramatic colors filled the sky that night I momentarily reveled in the palest of pink glows to the east. Conversely, where the sun was dying in the west and the spectrum should have been the most vibrant, the sky was filled with only a few muted greys. A most unusual set up but I'll take it. I hope we all can share our own unique strengths with one another like I derive from this magnificent creature called an Alligator. My wish is that we see the beauty in the mundane and to be grateful. Seek your own passions then share them with the world. It is there you will find your own brand of happiness. And always remember in the midst of the darkest and most ominous storms with the thunder crashing and lightning flashing, things will clear after the Deluge ... All it takes is the Rain...  |
