Trek to the Swamp (a.k.a. Our Backyard)

The weather has been warm but still too cold (we hope) for snakes, ticks, alligators, etc.  It was with this idea in our heads that we decided to trek to the back of our property one afternoon.  Even though it's not that far, it feels like every few steps you take transports you to a different place: grass lawn, sand, pine forest, forest with big puddles, big puddle with a few trees in it.

It's beautiful, in a claustrophobic, too-much-trees-and-vines-and greenery-and-water kind of way.  

This fallen tree framed David perfectly.

We didn't realize how many cypress knees there were.  

"Leaves of three, leave them be."  Our poison ivy motto: "If it's hairy, be wary."  Both vines here are poison ivy;  it's recognizable by the tiny "hairy roots" that come out.  The vines can be as big as a small tree trunk.  

In some places, it looks like a lake with trees and bits of land poking up.  In others, channels of water mix and flow between banks of logs, earth, leaves, and trees.

This tree trunk made the perfect path over the water.

Mr. Scout is king of the swamp.  He can navigate the logs and jump from dry spot to dry spot.  Poison ivy doesn't scare him!

For all its dangers and messiness, it is beautiful in places.

The waterways form a web through the forest.

Away from the water, the forest is grassy and shaded.

Found on the camera, this is some moss in the front yard.

Someone got up close to the moss to get this picture.