"Then the marching wet will start again the next day or so, hissing and leaping down in narrow sharply defined paths as the clouds are pushed about here and there in the bright sky." (Douglas, 114)
I found this sentence extremely vivid and almost story-like. It painted a clear image of a stormy afternoon over the vast wetlands of the Everglades. Douglas included strong adjectives like "hissing" and "marching" that made the rain appear powerful and mighty. As a native Floridian, I have grown accustomed to the frequent storms that prevail during the wet season. I admit that sometimes the rain can fall like heavy white sheets leaving the surrounding areas flooded with reduced visibility. During the wet season it rains almost everyday, sometimes even more frequent. With regards to the Everglades, the wetlands depend on the rain from the wet season to provide water for the inhabitants of the surrounding ecosystem.
"The whole system was like a set of scales on which forces of the seasons, of the sun and the rains, the winds, the hurricanes, and the dewfalls, were balanced so that the life of the vast grass and all its encompassed and neighbor forms were kept secure." (Douglas, 121)
This sentence made me reanalyze the natural elements and put them into play with the conditions of the Everglades. One of the most important organisms that are prevalent throughout the Everglades is saw grass. This species of grass proliferates in the wetlands and is used by many other animals in the surrounding ecosystem as food or shelter. Too much sun can dehydrate the grass and cause it to dry. Too much rain can flood the surrounding plains and reduce dry lands. Too much wind can rip up the grass and blow down tress. In order for the Everglades to be a successful ecosystem, there needs to be a balance between the natural elements and living organisms.
"Where the grass and the water are there is the heart, the current, the meaning of the Everglades."(Douglas, 108)
Most of the inhabitants of the Everglades survive on the grass and/or the water. They either use it as a source of nutrition or as a form of shelter. This sentence reaffirms the importance of both water and grass in terms of useful resources for the Everglades. The "heart" of the Everglades is where both resources can flourish and supply their nutrients to the surrounding environment. The survival of the Everglades depends on the sustainability of the saw grass and water supply. If one of these resources break equilibrium, the result affects the entire ecosystem and can take years to fix.
"Time moves again for the Everglades, not in ages and in centuries, but as man knows it, in hours and days, the small events of his own lifetime, who was among the last living forms to invade its shores." (Douglas, 134)
This sentence was eye opening in that it illustrated how human civilization has swarmed the Everglades and forced it to the southernmost tip of Florida. The Everglades used to be a large thriving ecosystem encompassing around one fourth of the state of Florida. Now, the Everglades is receding to a smaller area due to the proximity of surrounding civilization. As humans, we measure change in terms of hours and days like Douglas mentioned. However, the Everglades have been established for centuries before mankind. It has survived the dramatic changes of the Earth, but it appears as though humans are beginning to suffocate the rich environment of the Everglades.
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