Everglade Prairie

Our airboat glided over the murky brown water like a 10 year-old on a skim board at the ocean’s edge. This was pure prairie- Everglades’s style- where the tallgrass grew in water thick with Spanish moss and lily pads. Occasionally there was a burst of yellow, a blossom that affixed itself to the surface like a prom corsage.

Deeper water formed canals, lined with apple trees whose fruit tasted like turpentine (so we were told) and delicate purple flowers sprung up sideways, like trellises in a New England garden. My daughter Aster and I had dutifully stuffed cotton balls in our ears before we began the cruise, before our boat skirted over the musty waters and sped headlong over tall green grass that swayed beneath our boat. We made circles and our driver negotiated sharp turns, and then we spun like a teacup ride in a carnival.

Our driver, perched high above us, stopped the motor and then whistled. We drifted for a few seconds, and then I saw it, a long snout moving toward us, and then, like a child, shyly showing the rest of his new outfit, surfaced more of his armored body. He stopped about ten feet away and closed one enormous eyes, as if the sight of boatload of tourists pointing cellphones had overwhelmed his solitude. Once the cellphones stopped flashing, the driver started the motor and we began moving again. The alligator seemed to follow our boat for a while, like a faithful dug that accompanies interlopers to the end of his territory, then disappeared into the thick brush.