Take a Nature Walk on the Peace River in Wauchula Florida.

A few years ago, my wife and I were hopping around Florida in our Rv during the Winter months. We actually spent over five months traveling around the state that Winter, just relaxing and enjoying the weather as well as the fact that we were obviously living in a Tropical land.

We fell in love with the many Palm Trees that grow wild in Florida, like a Pine tree does in Virginia, as well as the wide variety of tropical plants. We take regular walks wherever we stay, and we soon noticed the different Florida Insects and Animals that are often quite different from our home in Virginia.

On one of these walks, I was actually just basking in the warm sunshine and observing the great environment on the Peace River, near Wauchula Florida, where we were camping.

I stopped and sat on the bank of the river itself, and just went into a trance of sorts, I felt so happy and content. I was sitting there, as still as a log, and the only thing that was moving, at first, was my eyes. Then slowly, the River and it's inhabitants accepted me, and I just sat there and watched.

This little poem attempts to describe that few minutes of my life when I felt like I had actually blended into the environment.

I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I enjoyed living those moments.

As I sit on the Bank,

of the Peace River.

I see Bright Blue Skies overhead,

lightly peppered with the occasional

white, Cotton Candy cloud,

just floating by, on their own journey,

while the Hot Sun

was burning my already Red Neck.

The dark Tannin-stained waters

roll slowly downstream,

and disappear around the next bend,

in no real hurry to get anywhere

in particular.

On the opposite bank are thick,

green and tropical

Plants, Palms along with other Trees.

All of them bunched tightly together,

as if fighting for the best,

sunshine and water.

These bright and lush greens are interspersed with

Yellow-tipped Fronds,

Gray-Brown trunks,

and the occasional brightly colored

bush of Wildflowers.

Glancing over,

there, in the middle of the water,

is an army,

thousands of water bugs.

All dancing together on the water’s surface,

first Left and then Right

and then back and forth,

synchronized in their random dance,

yet barely stirring the water’s surface.

I glance down, and on the calm waters,

right at my feet

there is a single Water Spider,

its feet making small concave dents

in the water’s surface.

It moves silently on the still water’s edge,

over to a dead tree trunk,

and finally disappears,

on a mission of its own.

On the rotting tree trunk,

a small Lizard suddenly scampers

out to its end,

right at the waters edge,

and stares at the River with its own private thoughts.

Smiling, I quickly wave my arm,

and the sudden movement,

sends the Lizard rushing

back up the trunk, to land.

I look back down,

at my feet, in the water,

and see that the sand,

is peppered with hundreds of small clam-like shells.

Clam shells?

Two hours from the ocean?

What a treat, to consider as well as see.

Finally, I stand,

and notice as I move away from the River that,

everything stays as it was.

Nothing has been impressed by my presence,

Not the River,

Not the Water Bugs,

Not the Water-Spider,

Nor even the small Lizard.

Only Me!