Our cypress swamp doesn’t look too bad at the west end, after Hurricane Helene.

Deadfall, west end

But some of it is quite bad.

Another deadfall to the south

Fortunately, most of it is undamaged.

Most of the swamp is intact

The dogs wanted to see more.

River and Honeybun heading east

Blondie is my usual figurehead.

Blondie aboard

The worst area is the east end. The big winds came from the east. They blew down most of the few big pines in the swamp, and some of the cypress and blackgum trees.

Blondie and big deadfalls east end

At least that’s still there.

Duck house still standing

No ducks in it. Maybe someday.

And no, people from south Florida, there are no alligators in this six-acre cypress swamp. My grandfather bought this farm in 1921, and nobody has ever seen an alligator in this swamp. It’s a third of a mile from the nearest creek. It’s a Carolina Bay that is usually dry, but since Hurricane Debby it has stayed wet.

Sky isn’t in these pictures, because she went around instead of through the swamp.

Gretchen wasn’t there because she had run away to the Okefenokee Swamp.

-jsq

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