In a swamp, as in meditation, you begin to glimpse how elusive, how inherently insubstantial, how fleeting our thoughts are, our identities. There is magic in this moist world, in how the mind lets go, slips into sleepy water, circles and nuzzles the banks of palmetto and wild iris, how it seeps across dreams, smears them into the upright world, rots the wood of treasure chests, welcomes the body home.
~ Barbara Hurd
(Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs & Human Imagination)
As darkness fell we headed back through the swamp to the visitor center.
photos by Tim Rodgers
It was too cloudy to see the full moon, but as we learned on this trip, we often didn’t get to see what we expected see, but what we were granted to see was more than enough to fill us with gratitude.
AMAZING egret shot!!! And the second-from-the-end shot…mystical, shimmering. I am thinking about meditation now. How elusive our thoughts are. And yet how we continue believing them, over and over, even when we know better. Beyond the world of thoughts there is a swamp, Barbara. Shall we meet there?
I will meet you there, Kathy…
Tim did get some amazing shots while my thoughts were elsewhere!
Please know that you are received a STANDING OVATION from me for these photographs!
Tim will be taking a deep bow when he sees your comment, Laurie! 🙂
If it’s possible, it seems like each set of Okefenokee Swamp pictures is more awesome than the previous set. I found the photo with the trees reflecting in the water particularly fascinating. How did you do it? And, was it an intentional? In any case, I really like the blurred images in the water.
Thank you, Sheryl! It was fun selecting which pictures to use here. Perhaps Tim will answer about the trees reflecting in the water – I don’t think it was intentional. I love that one, too – sometimes cameras help us to see what our eyes might miss!
So, so pretty! What a great post!
Thank you, Anne, and welcome to *By the Sea!*
Hi, there are so many magnificient photos in this post, with a lot of nature’s beauty and mystery!
Thank you for your kind words, Bente, and welcome to *By the Sea*!
Hi,
Really fantastic photos, great shots of the birds, and the swamp, very nice.
Mags, you’re back! Hurray! I hope this means your new computer is up and running! 🙂
Hi Barbara,
I like your photos and use of color. I hope you didn’t get caught in any hot weather when you took these Okefenokee!
Segmation
Welcome to *By the Sea,* Segmation! My husband Tim took this bunch of photos – I will pass on your compliments to him. It wasn’t too hot in the evening, and after the sun set it even got a little bit chilly!
Beautiful photos! The egret is quite striking 🙂
Thank you, Tracy! I was impressed by how deep the water was where the egret is standing – as deep as its long legs…
I’m with Laurie in giving your Tim a STANDING OVATION for the photographs!
and I have to agree with Cheryl’s comment:
“… it seems like each set of Okefenokee Swamp pictures is more awesome than the previous set.”
Thank you so much, Rosie! Poor Tim is working this weekend, so I’m not sure when he’ll have a chance to take a couple of bows! 🙂
Tim + good camera + magic of swamp = an awesome set of picture memories to share with friends and family!
Very interesting tour. I love the photos of the blue flags/iris. Jane
Thanks for the identification, Jane! I knew they were irises and was wondering if and hoping that they were wild ones. I did a search for “wild blue flag iris” and stumbled across a nature and drawing blog you might like:
http://botanicalartstalk.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/blue-flag-iris-study/
I subscribed!
Oh wow, doesn’t the atmosphere change as the night approaches? I really love the wild iris and wouldn’t have imagined such colourful flowers would grow in a swamp area.
Congratulations to Tim on an amazing job done as a photographer! 🙂
The bright spots of color were few and far between, which is why the wild iris seemed so striking. I will let Tim know what you think of his photography skill – and thank you on his behalf! 🙂 He’s still swamped with work…
‘There is magic in this moist world, in how the mind lets go, slips into sleepy water…’
That is quite stunning. Wonderful photos, Tim! And, Barbara, your concluding gratitude is what we should all feel for the natural world that offers its miracles everyday!
Thank you for your kind words, Diane! My mind is still slipping into sleepy water… I am still high from this spiritual journey into the swamp and my whole being is filled with gratitude and wonder… It’s often a thrill discovering what nature has to offer in a place other than the one we’re used to!
Beautiful, beautiful photos. 🙂
Thank you, Val! 🙂
just beautiful….
Thank you, sriramjanak!
I was thinking about you–and re-visited this page several weeks after my original comments. I’m still in awe at the beauty and peace conveyed by these pictures.
I’m happy you stopped by again, Sheryl. It’ only been a few months since we were there in the mystical swamp, yet so much has happened since then that it feels like a distant dream.
Oh, and Tim says he didn’t do anything special to take the picture of the photo with the trees reflecting in the water – the water did look like that at times and he was glad it showed up that way on camera.