I have the idea for a big Substack post in mind, and I contemplated trying to release it today. But upon further thinking, I decided against it. There’s a lot I still need to think about in regards to that one. I might not even end up doing it. But I don’t know.
So I was left with the question: What shall I release this week?
Could be something political, but I’ve exhausted myself of a lot of the political topics recently. I don’t have much of a unique angle on anything happening right now, so all I’d be is repeating what’s already been said.
I could talk about Trump’s statement about how Christians “won’t need to vote in four years,” but I think that speaks for itself really.
I could talk about JD Vance coming after Kamala Harris for being a “childless cat lady,” because apparently owning a cat and not having children is a bad thing?
I could talk about JD Vance in general and how he’s like the most unlikable character from an adult cartoon, between his autobiography with a painful lack of self awareness, his doubling back on his opinions on Trump, his comments about dolphins, and whatever the heck he did to his couch (I don’t wanna know).
Again, that all speaks for itself.
So, there for a hot minute, I had nothing. I had no idea what to write about. And besides, I’m on vacation. I’ve gone down to New Orleans. And there’s a lot I could write about just from this trip. Especially the poverty I’ve seen. But I’m saving that for the possible “big idea” one I might have coming up.
Today, though, something happened that wasn’t political or social or any of that fun stuff, but just made me think. So here I am, writing about it.
New Orleans has such a unique environment. It is a land of water. So many different water shaped landscapes exist here. Swamps, rivers, creeks, estuaries, oceans. For this reason, the ecosystem here is crazy compared to the Iowa one I’m so familiar with.
One of the things I’ve noticed is all the turtles. Turtles are fairly common in Iowa, but they are on every single freaking log in Louisiana. It’s turtles all the way down here. I look at a pond, see a branch sticking out; boom, turtle. Probably multiple turtles. There are so many turtles it’s insane.
Something else that has shocked me are all the strange fish. I’ve never seen so many gars in my life. I can’t remember seeing an alligator gar ever until today, when a fisherman reeled in a five foot long one in front of us. Later, I saw a large, dead carp left to rot beside a dock. The thing had to be at least three feet long, maybe closer to four.
Another thing I’ve noticed is the crazy bird diversity. There are so many unique birds down here it’s maddening. I brought a field guide to birds of North America with me, and I’ve been digging through it trying to identify what I’ve been seeing.
One species I’ve noticed the most were little white egret things. I think they’re a kind of egret. I’m not sure. They are everywhere down here. They’re in swamps, trees, ditches, even on the backs of cows. I saw a bunch congregating around a horse standing idly in a field today.
I’ve seen a few cormorants, which are very strange yet fun looking birds. I love seeing cormorants. Swimming in the swamps, though, I saw another kind of bird that took me entirely off guard. The thing had its whole body submerged underwater, besides its skinny neck and long beak which it had sticking out of the surface. Then it dived into the waters, completely disappearing.
I thought I saw a little Loch Ness Monster.
After doing some research, I can confidently say that it was probably an anhinga, a relative of cormorants. Now a new favorite to look for when out and about.
There have been a lot of crows, seagulls, and herons as well. Those are birds I’m familiar with back in Iowa. So are vultures, particularly of the turkey vulture variety. There is certainly no shortage of vultures down here. But not all of them are turkey vultures.
Today, I saw a vulture running through a field. Yes, running. The odd fellow was prancing around on the ground. His head was bare, like a turkey vulture’s, but it wasn’t bright red. Rather, it was jet black like its feathers. What I was looking at was a black vulture, a variant unique to the southern states.
But the strangest creature by far down here is one I expected the most. I’ve seen only a few wild alligators in my lifetime. Four of those instances came from today alone. My family went to a few bayou parks in the area and spotted four total gators over the afternoon. Most of them weren’t particularly big on alligator standards, but they were huge on Iowan standards.
Imagine, giant reptilian monsters that live beneath the surface of the water being common in a strange habitat like Louisiana. For the people down here, it’s just life. For me, an Iowan, it’s alien.
And I had an experience today with one of them that felt extremely alien.
The biggest one we saw today was also the closest. It was just hanging out probably a few feet away from a concrete platform you could stand on. The concrete platform was probably only two or three feet above the water, with an added concrete shelf to act as a barrier between you and the water. Meaning you could just sit there and stare into this alligator’s eyes, which were less than eight feet away from your own face.
Speaking of which, the beast was probably eight feet long, give or take a foot. It sat still in the water, covered in moss (speaking of which, the trees, vines, and lily pads down here are wild). It moved a few times, but very slowly. It never seemed particularly bothered with the people standing practically above it.
That’s what shocked me. How casual the whole experience was. Here was practically this swamp monster that could suddenly lash out and drag you under, and it was entirely chill. And everyone around it was chill too. People just walked up to it, looked at it, took some pictures, then went on with their day like nothing happened. I’ve seen people more excited to see deer than they were to see this alligator. No fear, no over the top wonder, no crazy reactions. Just people being like, “Yep, that’s a gator. Pretty cool,” then moving on.
It was a surreal experience for me. I was within striking distance of a powerful predator, and neither the predator nor the people around me cared. It was normal. It was so strange. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a wild animal that could actually eat me without any sort of proper barrier in between. It screwed with my natural instincts.
It was just me and an alligator. Face to face. And apparently, that’s normal.
Oh, And…Nothing?
…Am I good? Is anything big going to happen before I hit the publish button?
We good?
I checked the news, and while some serious things are happening, none of them are quite like the news I had happen during my last few Substack posts. Yeah, these have been a few hectic weeks.
Well, here’s hoping nothing revolutionary happens today.
Cheers, mate.
You are very aware of the environment around you and that adds to the authenticity of your posts. As you said most of the people either were so used to the environment or they didn’t really care, they weren’t into it. Hopefully more people stop and pay attention to the life going on around them and start taking it seriously.