One has to wonder, is the feeding of the wildlife still illegal even if it was unintentional??? (Wink, wink...)

Soon enough we did return safely to shore and I must say that my arms weren’t the least bit sore, so I really don’t know what everyone else was belly-aching about…  Steve and I made sure that all of the canoes were returned to their respective positions on the racks while lunch was prepared, and soon we were all feasting on what we later learned had been our fourth straight day of ham and turkey sandwiches – yummy!  I guess at the time it wasn’t that big of a deal, basically because we really didn’t have any choice, but I’ll tell you that once we finally did get a few different options, the entire story changed!

Back on the bus, we were immediately barraged by the song, which up until this point had managed to stay out of my story, even though it was played an average of sixteen thousand times each day!  The song in question was Seminole Wind, by John Anderson, and had traditionally become the official song of the Everglades trip.  It was pretty much a country song, which immediately flagged it for a waste of recording time in my mind, but everyone else for the most part seemed to enjoy it, so I tried to keep my qualms to a minimum (for a change!).  As much as I hate to admit it, though, it did slowly begin to grow on me and by the end of the trip, I was actually able to listen to the entire song without cringing out in pain!  K.C. and I had even talked about creating a new-age version of the song, with an alternative/punk edge to it, but there just wasn’t enough time in our days to make it a reality…
 

By the end of the trip, Suzy had learned how to play the air-violin along with Seminole Wind.   She also learned never to trust me when I've got my camera nearby...

As we returned to camp, it was decided that a second trip to Eco-Pond was in order.  At one point or another, the entire class was to make an appearance and seeing as Amber hadn’t actually even been there once yet, it became an obvious choice.  Nevertheless, rumors of a small rain storm were circulating and we all grabbed rain coats just for humorous intent.  Come on, it doesn’t really rain in Florida, does it???  Boy, were we wrong…
 

Rob looks out across a marshy field near Eco-Pond

I was happy to see many new and different creatures during this visit, alongside the old favorites from before.  Oddly enough, the Ibis had completely abandoned their position in the large tree towards the center of the pond, however the Little Blue Herons and Tricolored Herons were out in numbers as always, along with a multitude of ducks and egrets.  Possibly the most rewarding sights that afternoon, believe it or not though, were the alligators who I actually witnessed in the pond this time!  Up to that point I had seen those guys just about everywhere, but I was starting to wonder if they ever actually made any appearances at Eco-Pond.  That afternoon we saw several, one of which was apparently pretending to be a turtle when we first approached – don’t ask!
 

By gosh, there are alligators in Eco-Pond!

When it rains in Florida, it pours, and this is exactly what happened only about fifteen minutes into our tour of the pond.  It wasn’t necessarily very cold or hard rain and we were more worried about our camera equipment than anything else, to tell you the truth, but the whole idea of being soaking-wet wasn’t an appealing one at this point!  Another nice thing about Florida, though, is best described by the thought, “If you don’t like the weather down here, just wait about fifteen minutes…”  and luckily that’s about all it took to pass us by.  Needless to say, we were both completely drenched because we had pretty much decided to wait it out, rather than run back to camp like everyone else, but I do think that staying behind was all and all well worth the wetness.  Some of the most interesting things we saw happened after the downpour, and between watching the birds taking advantage of the soft ground for feeding or just trying to dry themselves, it was quite the sight!
 

Shortly after I took this picture, the Little Blue and Tricolored jumped that poor, little duck, making off with it's wallet and a very nice watch...   As one of the lesser-told stories from the Everglades, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Nevertheless, we did still have a bit of time left before I was supposed to help prepare dinner, so we took a few minutes to climb into dry clothes before the wandering began.  Seeing as the next day was to be our official free day, to deal with however we chose, we all decided that it might not be a bad idea to actually find something to do!  Although we probably could’ve hacked all day, we were in the Everglades and thought that it might be best to take advantage of that!  After wrestling my way into my rain pants, rain coat and every other piece of water-resistant clothing I could find, we were ready to depart.

One recommendation I should make, however, to anyone planning a trip to Florida in the future – it doesn’t hurt to bring along a full set of clothes to wear after it rains, and by full, shoes need to be included!!!  Of course, one could assume that I hadn’t taken this possibility into consideration and thus spent the rest of the day sloshing around in wet sneakers.  Luckily, the rain pretty much gave up as soon as I had gotten all of my rain gear on, and eventually things did manage to dry out.  The sun finally came up and we were once again in paradise! 
 
 

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