Everyone else in our low-slung boat in the Okefenokee Swamp was leaning over the edge hoping to spy alligators. I was cowering in the middle, trying to stay perfectly still so we wouldn’t find ourselves swimming with reptiles. In other words, I was being a big scaredy cat. We did see enough alligators, egrets, and other wildlife to satisfy everyone, and I was finally able to enjoy the scenery. On one expanse of water, reflecting the day’s blue sky, we saw Orontium Aquaticum, or Golden Club, as far as the eye could register in all directions. The reflections of the colorful stalks had a deceptive, other-worldly look which I found beautiful, and I was almost charmed into forgetting the sinister setting. But on balance I still associate our day in the swamp with a sense of intrusion and courting disaster. The idea that pushing off into the streams, canals, and shallow lakes in a kayak could be a pleasurable pastime for some people almost leaves me speechless with dread.