Quietly roaming the Everglades. Ever aware the visitors.

Do you see the American Alligator? He surfaced oh so quietly to investigate the agitated waters. Food, perhaps? Alas, no. An airboat slipping through the Everglades, a sliver of the over 1.5 million acres of saw grass marshes, mangrove forests, and hardwood hammocks. An oasis set at the southern tip of Florida.

Once you get out there, far enough away from the urban jungle, the world opens up, a whole new world with an amazingly diverse eco-system, life cycle, and rhythm that is completely distinct than that established by man. A rhythm that has been in place for thousands of years. Navigable in its own way. Once you get out there your eyes acclimate and you realize that even out here, on an air boat, there are paths. There is pilgrimage.

Go out far enough and one can imagine a pilgrimage that requires a night’s rest on the boat; ensconced in true darkness, quite and nature. A journey that requires sustenance on the fish, sawgrass and fresh water. A moment in time, if even for a short while, to contemplate the beauty of this created world which is often times overlooked and underexplored.

The journey is out there.