The American Queen

Little Shark River, N25 20 W81 08
January 12, 2006

We tried fishing this morning but got no nibbles at all so we soon tired
of that. Instead we launched the dinghy and set out to explore some of
the side channels to the river. These channels took us deep into the
mangrove forest that surrounds us. They are only a few meters wide and
a few centimeters deep. The water is brackish. We felt like Katherine
Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart on the African Queen. It was great fun but
we only saw birds and crabs for wildlife. The only kind of plant
species visible was mangroves. The mangroves continued as far as the
eye could see. Still, the isolation and the quiet and the purity of
the nature was wonderful.

We saw a mangrove island in the middle of a lagoon and surmised that the
island had never been named. Hereafter let the world know that Dick
And Libby Island exists on a side channel to the Little Shark River.

In the river we saw no fish but we see and hear dolphins often. This
morning there was a mother and a baby dolphin frolicking right beside
the boat. We were delighted to watch.

Studying the charts I decided that we could not get far enough up this
river to see nature substantially different than where we are.
Therefore we spent the afternoon reading books, fishing and puttering.
It was so quiet and silent that the only noise I could hear was the
small solar powered fan we have in the forward berth. Sometimes there
is a splash. Sometimes, a bird cries. Once we heard breaking branches
and decided that a tree fell. We can give first hand testimony that it
made a noise.

According to the weather report we should either hurry up to go north to
Fort Meyers to say hello to Norman, or else wait a few days. In
character with our new life style, we easily decided to wait.

We're still listening to the Judge Alito hearings on the radio. These
hearings, like the Judge Roberts hearings, exemplify government at its
very best. Almost everyone is on best behavior and the subjects
discussed are among the most intellectually challenging imaginable. The
main exception was Senator "Teddy" Kennedy. He sounds like a bitter
vicious old man who should have retired a long time ago. Senator
Schumer took second place as being nasty. mean spirited, and interested
only in himself, not in the country. Senators Lahey of Vermont and
Hatch of Utah impress me as the most statesmanlike. I love listening to
both of them.