Swamp Tales

I call this blog Swamp Tales because while I worked out in the marshes, everyone always asked me, "How are things in the swamp?" I kept telling everyone, it's not really a swamp. A swamp is a wetland dominated by trees. Trees do grow in the marshes, but usually on ground above the water table. The ones that grow on the marsh are mostly stunted.
We worked in the Central Wisconsin marshlands. As the glaciers receded, meltwater was left to form Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Over time, the low-lying areas became marshes. The marshes look more like a grassy plain. The predominant plant is sphagnum moss, also known as peat moss. Decomposition is slow in the acidic environment. The moss forms a mat on the water, growing on the backs of previous generations of the plants. The thickness of that mat varies a great deal.
Sphagnum moss, because it can hold up to 20 times its weight in water, is used as a soil amendment. People who grow orchids particularly like it.
Many plants grow in the marshes as well. Pitcher plant, sundew, various beautiful orchids, marsh mallows, St. Johnswort, really too many to list. Tamarak and spruce seem to be the predominant trees.
Working and driving equipment on a mat of plant material over a mostly unknown depth of water, was also dangerous. We always had to be concious of that.
I could have called this blog marsh tales, but I chose swamp tales because everyone always asked me, "How are things in the swamp?"
I think of a swamp as a murky, sometimes dirty, messy place that is also magical and beautiful and filled with wonder. And that pretty much sums up my entire life.