Bog jumping with Jillian

It is one of the last days of the spring term. The day after final projects and the day before final exams. It is the day Dave and I take any who care to go out on a trip to Mud Lake Bog - a favorite spot to geek out on weird ecology at the Biological Station.

Since half the class spent most of their free time out here doing their research projects on pitcher plants there were only a few takers. It made it more intimate though and personal. We squished through the mossy peat and stuck our noses down close to tiny sundews. Strange and mysterious secrets poke out everywhere from the bog...

By the the edge of Mud Lake the surface begins to sink and sway, undulating with every step. I like the way the watery mosses feel on my bare feet sinking in - like taking a pedicure path in the brown acidy waters that scour your skin clean. Leopard frogs dart out from bog heather and small trails lead hither and thither through the cat tail reeds. Lost between land and water, suspended in the strange netherworld of the bog

...and jumping up in pure joy.