Flooding:
We set out early and visited a few sites, the most memorable of which
is maintained by The Nature Conservancy. This site1 is several hundred acres, with a portion accessible
by a long boardwalk.
First off, I have to comment on the preserve's great
signage--it was informative, accurate, and fun, with a quirky layout
somewhere in tone between Peter D'Amato's "The Savage Garden" and an episode of "The Jetsons!"
Not only that, but the panels cited both the ICPS web domain, and my own. Flattery will ensure a fine review!
The forest was under a foot or so of water, and flowers that were normally terrestrial were submerged. Apparently, the
inundation was due to the previous night's rain.
Jay Lechtman had told me to look for Sarracenia psittacina, but they must have been hidden in the water (we didn't
even see any inflorescences sticking out of the water).
The storm water was flowing pretty quickly in some places--we did not yet know it, but
the flood pulse was actually only beginning...
After our initial exploration, we picked up some lunch at a nearby grocery store. I got a muffaletta (dressed),
Beth ordered an oyster
po-boy. (Trying saying "oyster po-boy" ten times fast). Refreshed, we returned to the boardwalk. The water
had gotten deeper, and the boardwalk was now only about 30 cm/1 foot above the floodwaters.
Beth started a watercolor study of the inundated forest as viewed from one bend of the boardwalk, while
I left to search for things to photograph.
1Unless I am told otherwise by the preserve staff, I will not disclose the site's
name, even though it has a boardwalk and signage.
