Living in a Swamp

When I heard my friends had moved to New Orleans with their three girls and were living in a community ten miles from the Gulf Coast, in an area still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, surrounded by swamp and bayou, my media-formed imagination thought of something like this shack I saw while down visiting in mid-August.  My imagination also assumed swarms of mosquitoes thicker and hungrier than their northern siblings in Minnesota, gators crawling in every watery mud hole, and hurricane ravaged wildlife and communities.   My bias was wrong on those counts and more.

I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty and peacefulness of the swamp, that though hot and muggy (it was mid-August), there was a cool breeze off of the water and few mosquitoes buzzing in my ear.  The trees, plants, and flowers were an exotic backdrop for the many egrets, herons, and birds we saw while on our boat tour, just ten minutes from my friends’ beautiful new house.  Truly, they do live in a swamp.  But unless this was brought to your attention you really wouldn’t know.  That is until, after a particularly hard rain, seeing the water standing in all of the ditches and people’s yards, with no where to go, you really knew you were near a swamp in a low lying area, which pretty much sums up the entire area, and helps you understand how the devastating waters of the hurricane could have gone so far inland to reck havoc.  

Of ‘Gators and Real Danger

It was rather disconcerting to find alligators swimming around the swamp as we drove by in our tour boat.  Most of which were rather small (4 or 5 feet long), but still seeing something that big, with large teeth, coming your way, touches a primal fear within you.  From somewhere within comes the fearful voice, “that thing could eat me.”  And of course, in the right (or wrong) situation and conditions, one could attack, but alligators usually stay clear of people and rarely attack.  In fact, they only come close when there is promise of some tasty marshmallows or hot dogs on a stick.  Still, seeing a 15 foot ‘gator lunge out of the water 3-4 feet just for a hot dog does make one weary and keep a respectful distance. 

The two dangerous things you have to be careful about are the aggressive and poisonous water moccasins and falling out of a boat.  Falling out of a boat and hitting your head on some submerged object and drowning is probably the most dangerous thing, and simply requires not acting stupid.  Actually people usually don’t fall out of boats, they are usually jumping out of a boat or off a dock without knowing what’s below the water, that gets them in trouble.  Again, the most dangerous thing in a swamp are people who do things without thinking. Snakes you can stay away from pretty easily. 

Facing unexamined prejudices

I was not aware that I held such prejudices about the south.  Only after the hurricane and our churches subsequent support of the relief and rebuilding efforts through our sister church in Mississippi, did I give any thought to what daily life might be like in the southern states along the Gulf Coast.  My attitudes and prejudices have been formed from bits and pieces from the news, tv shows, movies, music, and through the stories of people who have lived or visited a particular place.  It takes an open mind, a desire to learn and experience new things, and a willingness to change your beliefs and attitudes about people and places when what is really real clashes with your prejudices.  It also takes good friends who will show you around, tell you some of the history of a place and people, and plan some new experiences for you.