Blue Cypress Lake

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The gallery of birds and shoreline from today's 2 hours

The gallery of blue cypress from today's 2-hour tour

This was the day. Ray & I were scheduled for two hours on Blue Cypress Lake. Our hopes were so high in our throats they kept us awake most of the night. But it was 6:02 am and now our hopes propelled us toward the meeting spot. The 2-minute drive landed us a half hour early for our 7 o'clock appointment, but Jeanne was already there with her hands wrapped around her coffee cup and told us she had some for us brewing inside.

Yesterday we met Jeanne Middleton of Middleton's Fish Camp and her wonderful dog Princess, but this morning was our first encounter with Roxy. Wow, another perfect personality picked to protect this peaceful part of the planet. Roxy was preparing the boats for the days excursions, and it was obvious she loved what she was doing and where she got to do it. She was preparing a small fishing boat when Jeanne introduced her to us, and Ray & I both came away from the exchange of words believing that that was the boat we were assigned. Our already high hopes were significantly elevated when later Roxy ushered us to the pontoon boat. But first we had to wait for our driver, Dan. To our excited state of anticipation he seemed to still be slumbering somewhere, yet he showed up precisely punctual to the point of pouring coffee, chatting with all of us, and still being behind the wheel of the humming pontoon boat ready to launch at 0700.

At first glance, Dan could have been one of those gruff personalities that seem only to endure life, but Captain Dan, as I now affectionately call him, was one of those gruff personalities that surely live life to its deepest. In the end, the gruff persona is more of a tongue-in-cheek way to acknowledge his God-given appearance, much like a big guy going by the name of Tiny. His ability to understand the human connection to Nature, and to grasp the benefits of allowing that reality to engulf his existence, is what makes Captain Dan so special. At one point of our cruise he, out of nowhere, mentioned he has the best wife ever. I quickly said I could argue that, so we did. In the end, we each tacitly acknowledged the others good fortune, and came away winning the argument.

Yesterday's gallery was weak and only contains one photo I like, but today's 2 hours on the lake yielded over 420 exposures, which I narrowed to 234 in the digital darkroom. These so-called galleries in ParksPhotos.com are nothing like the quality collection professionals refer to when going for the "gallery shot." These galleries are merely chronological collections of a day's fun with a camera. This day's fun was overwhelming. Ray & I were both brimming with the thrill of the creative capture. He was using a long lens to capture the beauty of the birds, and I was shooting wider, filling my memory card with the big picture of place. The feeling was enormous. The calm water that was barely being pushed by Dan's expert and respectful motoring set the tone of awe that accompanies every new day in a magical place like this. There was a whisper of respect that seems to emanate from every living thing. Several times throughout our course Captain Dan mentioned that he'd pull forward or back up or hurry over to that spot to line up for what we feel would be the perfect shot, but Ray & I both ignored his suggestion because we were too busy with the perfect shots right in front of us ---and off to the side, and to the other side.

As always, there was a huge difference between the shots into the sunlight and those with the Sun to our back. We trolled the west side of the lake, so the light shone on our subjects as we faced the shore. When we shot eastward we got the cool, silhouetted shots. As mentioned, I tried reducing the number of photos in the gallery, but, although I brought the number from over 400 down to 120, I failed miserably in the usual attempt of keeping the gallery to no more than 3 pages, 75 photos. To at least keep it under a 100, I added a second gallery of mostly shoreline exposures. Ray was getting the good closeup bird shots, but when I pointed my wide lenses toward the shore, we get some idea of just how many birds there were. I always seem to forget the video function on my cameras, but a movie would have done the best job of conveying the scene. Captain Dan mentioned that every bird had to eat its weight in fish everyday. Take a quick look at that 2nd gallery, then imagine how many fish are in Blue Cypress Lake. Dan also told us that when he comes out fly-fishing he just casts into a hole at the base of a cypress and pulls out a bass –time after time after...

After a short time, which nevertheless seemed timeless, Dan reminded us we wanted to get some shots of Joe's tree, the most photographed tree... Only now it was too late to capture that magic sunrise shot with Joe's tree. It was a bit farther north, and we told him to take his time so as not to disturb the calmness of the morning mood. There was only one other person on the lake during our time there --a guy in a kayak. He may have been fishing, but I saw no pole. He seemed more to be sharing the feeling of a new day awakening with the other creatures worshiping in their own ways. In photo 24 you can see he carries a chair on his kayak.

As we inched our way to Joe's tree, Ray & I continued shooting whatever appeared through our lenses. At one point I turned my camera down toward the water, and Dan seemed puzzled as to my subject. It may have appeared like I was trying to shoot some fish through the glistening water. Instead I was enjoying the reflection of the buttermilk clouds that started warming up our day. They certainly made the sky in many photos better than the usual contrails over this busy air-traffic area. Photo 78 & photo 79 were the best I can offer from that playful diversion.

We saw photos of Joe's tree both online and in the store at Middleton's. Dan told us that Joe used to spend hours at a time just sitting by this tree. It's a magnificent blue cypress, partially secluded and separated from the shoreline bunch as if taking point for troops cautiously considering entering the fray. One look at the tree and you can see why someone so sensitive as Joe is described as being could spend so much time communing with it. Joe's tree is simultaneously a guiding elder and a little brother; it's a cat, a dog, a horse, a bird who would listen to your moods and take away the cutting edge of life; it's the ancient connection to what was and what will be; it's a conduit to the Creator.

Many cypress trees have what are called knees growing near them. Joe's tree has what is more like a footstool adorning it. On this day we found orchids growing among the natural growth on Joe's footstool. When we got back, Jeanne mentioned the orchids were added much like the cross now on the tree dedicated to her late husband, but she really glowed when I mentioned there were two new buds promising a response to her loving gesture. Listening to Jeanne, Dan & Roxy talk about Joe Middleton infused a great deal of respect in me for what he and his life was like. While shooting the tree I instinctively threw off my hat in some odd symbol of respect. Immediately I felt Joe would have thought it silly, yet I knew the respect was justified. Wish we could have sat on the porch late into the night with Joe & Dan. He, too, could have put up a good argument for who has the best wife.

Without the time stamp on our photos I couldn't really say how long we were on the lake. The whole experience was one of those timeless moments that I'll remember the rest of my life. Imagine how it is for those few folks fortunate enough to live there. Throughout our ride Dan kept talking to the birds, encouraging them to be creative and reminding them he'll be back to see them later. He seemed to welcome many old friends, and quickly became the first human voice for many new babies born on Blue Cypress Lake each year. As we got closer to the fish camp Dan told us that Princess will be waiting for him to share a sweet bun. There she was with Roxy, both of them smiling, both of them waiting to share the recent amazement the newcomers just experienced.

The photo at the bottom of this post reminds me of a teen coming home a bit late, and the rest of the family is waiting up for him. Hopefully this magnificent place will remain as it is for so many more visitors. If Jeanne, Princess, Roxy & Dan have any say, there's no doubt this magic will multiply.

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