My recent “Beyond the Broward” venture also took me to the “Stick Marsh” on my way home from Blue Cypress Lake. You really have to want to go there to find it. Some of the best bass fishing in Florida can be found there. It is actually called the T.M. Goodwin Waterfowl Management Area. After turning off of the I-95 corridor at exit 173 one can eventually find a long unpaved gravel road heading west along man made ditches leading to a small parking lot with a boat ramp. As I unloaded my camera gear I watched a boat full of Veterans coming back from a tour in an airboat. Some of these Heroes were missing limbs. Some were helping their comrades on and off the boat. They all had a smile on their face though and were laughing. Made my day already.

Across the canal to the north were two small islands of trees and shrubs loaded with waterfowl. There were Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Limpkins, and the lovely Roseate Spoonbills on nearly every available branch. It is prime nest building time right now for these marsh birds. Marsh madness is in full swing at the stick marsh. I watched one bird after another leave the island, fly across the canal and look for a stick. Not just any stick. It had to be just right. The birds would scour the banks and trees looking for the right stick, pulling and twisting and examining the prize before deciding that it was just right. Then they would fly back to the nesting site with the prized stick. In a few minutes I would see them flying back looking for another.

Back at home finally, I decided to visit Huguenot Park and see how the “madness” was going there. The Laughing Gulls were there in abundance. Their breeding colors of the dark black head feathers and red beaks and eye circles were evident. They were strutting and doing head nods to attract that certain mate. As I approached, however, they ceased laughing and carrying on and let it be known they did not like photographers getting too close. I decided not to upset them and just pulled out a chair and sat there observing them. Soon they ceased to care about my presence and just laughed again. Made my day. And theirs too I think.

A well-known idiom says “He who laughs last, laughs best”. I wonder if that is what happened at the recent "successful" negotiations with Iran. Who is laughing now? Are they really laughing best? The Psalmist says “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision”. Ps 2:4 Something to think about. Be Blessed. Harry

Reflections on Broward is now "Mountain Musings"

He who laughs last...