Can you see the pond apple people?

One step deeper than the tall cypress are the pond apple.

Unlike the tall cypress which are smooth-barked and rise in straight vertical sheer, the branches of the pond apple are contorted, craggily and shoot every which way.

Can you see the stickman hidden in plain view?

The pond apple canopy is much lower.

That gives it a more intimate feel, but also makes it kind of “other worldly,” as if in entering into this deep water realm you’ve transcended into the center-most heart of the Big Cypress Swamp.

This "pond apple" man is easier to see.

On this particular day in January the branches of the pond apple trees were bent in such a way to give the illusion that two others were out there with me – a stickman (top photo) with arms raised to the sky and a bromeliad forming its hair and a branchman (bottom photo) hanging lemur-like in the air.

It’s always nice to find company in the swamp!