Florida Sinkhole: Thoughts About Writing

Big Dismal Sink at Leon Sinks Geological Area, November 20, 2011

The depths to which you've sunk before,
The heights you scale today
These things are fit to talk about
The future's not okay

The water level in your swamp
Will drop before your eyes
The world made aware of it
Will cut it down to size

The vast majority of viewers
Wish you nothing but the best
It's the malcontent will take you down
The Heathcliff, hand in vest

It's nothing new and often seen
This saprophytic rite
The feeding on the fallen log
It's natural...all right?

So keep it light and funny
And laugh away the dark
Distract the negativity
Don't feed it any snark

The sign you've sent the malcontent
Is clear for all to see
The all who wish you always well
Enjoy your cup of "T."

Skywatch Friday--Sinkhole Sunset at Lake Jackson

I'm especially fond of sunsets, and even more so these days. When I'm looking west, can you guess where my thoughts are headed? The apartment complex where we now live most of the time sits close to a park that's adjacent to a fascinating geological phenomenon--a sinkhole lake. Lake Jackson is on the rebound, filling up, regaining its depth and breadth in a cycle of drain/regain that usually begins every 25 years. I took this picture in early June, shortly after SAM and I moved to Tallahassee where he works. It looks like autumn has arrived already because most of the leaves on the trees have disappeared. Most of these trees, though, are not dormant. I think they are dying. They might not have a problem with "damp feet," but their roots will not survive being flooded. They started growing here when the main body of the lake lay elsewhere and the soil that it used to cover was at that time dry enough to support them. 

The native Americans who originally settled here called this place Okeeheepkee, or "Disappearing Waters." I found a fascinating account of one man's exploration of it that dates from 1842. You can probably guess from this excerpt what political party he favored at that time:

"...I think of nothing which will interest you more than our near neighbor Lake Jackson, which I shall prove to be as self-willed and unreasonable a body of water for a lake as the Whigs fancy they have proved its illustrious namesake to have been as a president and a man..."

 

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