This is another beautiful and evocative late afternoon scene from the Suwannee River in December 2005. In this photograph, my father-in-law perfectly caught that particular tint--periwinkle verging toward indigo---of a Florida winter sky in the late afternoon right before the sun starts to set. While we were standing on the ramp near the riverbank, this boat came puttering down the river. Fishing boats and fishermen are two things that really have NOT changed in my by now surprisingly long lifetime. This man is wearing a blue plaid shirt and a fishing hat, just like all fishermen in all the photos I've ever taken.
I love that line of trees along the bank. It reminds me of the writings of Flannery O'Connor; in her stories, a line of trees always represents God. Although she was talking about a middle Georgia pine barren and this is a Florida riverbank, the effect seems the same to me. There is something remote yet familiar about the look of them along this river.
The pointy thing in (and on!) the water is a cypress 'knee' and its reflection. It's rather menacing in its pointiness, obtruding into the soft blue of the water. Interestingly, no one really knows the function of the cyrpresses knee. According to the previously linked article, "The knees are part of the tree's root system, but the exact function of the knees is not known. Some scientists have thought they may help in providing oxygen to the tree and assist in anchoring the tree in the soft, muddy soil." The next two photographs show more of these knees.
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