Naps are one of the great pleasures in life. My summers are filled with naps taken in all kinds of places -- in a field of chicory and vetch, or on the fragrant floor of a pine forest, or on a sun-warmed mossy rock, or in the hammock under big oak trees, or curled up amongst the life jackets in the bilge of a sailboat, listening to the water noises that giggle against the hull.
In this photo, my Dad is settling down for a nap in the marsh at camp. He's tethered his raft to an old dock post. I've done the same thing, many times.
When you float at water level, the marsh looks different. You sleep eye level with the frogs and snakes and turtles. If you peer into the muddy water, you can see all kinds of things swimming about. And the cattails rise over your head, green and endless, way taller than you ever imagined.
May 06, 2005
Sleeping in the sun
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Sounds like fun! I hope he has some mosquito repellent. It's funny that I wrote today about my phobias. One of them has to do with things in the water. Your post triggered a memory of my being in the Warwick River (a tributary of the James) with a bunch of water moccassins swimming toward me. Yikes!
No one in my family uses mosquito repellant. None of us can stand the smell of it.
The mosqutoes never bother anyone during the day. And at dusk, we all put on long clothes.
We don't have any poisonous snakes either -- just common water snakes.
So this is a marsh in which you can just relax and not worry about anything. Except family members who will sneak up to splash you.
I took a break from the last of my grading this afteroon, and went out into the sunny day (but still not too hot, maybe 70 degrees), sat down in one of the adirondack chairs on the deck and took a 10-15 minute little snooze. It was wonderful! Around this time of year I sometimes have a hard time being outside too much because everytime I walk by a nice patch of grass in the sun, I just want to lay down and snooze.
I've never been in a marsh where I didn't have to keep an eye out for cottonmouth snakes and gators.
Can I come visit your marsh?
Sure, seeker, you need to visit a marsh in the north. It's very relaxing when you don't have to watch for anything dangerous. I like that I don't even have to worry about kids drowning: it is so shallow that if the kids forget how to swim, they can just stand up. Of course standing up stirs up all the muck....
That looks entirely lovely and reminds me of many a camping trip as a child. But I will admit that my first thought was "oh, mosquitos" and then I immediately remembered the leeches at the appropriately dubbed "leech lake" and ... yeah, I don't always relax so well in nature which is something I regret. But I try.
Will it ever be that warm? It's raining here, pouring really, and in the 40's. I live for a day like the one in the picture.
This is a great picture and your description is wonderful.
I'm with Songbird. Will it ever be that nice outside again??
Awesome photo! Reminds me of summers as a kid. With lush green grass instead of a marsh. But the same feeling....
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