I love boardwalks for two reasons. First, they allow me to get deeper into nature’s beauty without the danger of falling due to uneven ground, tree roots, rocks, etc. Second, I love how they are made of pieces of lumber that form straight lines, but still their structure has lots of dips and zags and turns with surprises.
The Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has a 2.25-mile boardwalk that meanders through pine flatwood, wet prairie, around a marsh, and finally into the largest old-growth bald cypress forest in North America. Can you follow these straight lines? Something like walking the straight center line while being falling-down-drunk.
I love this type of boardwalk (above and below) that is a great alternative to walking on soft, shifting sands. From this perspective you can tell which alternative I actually chose.
I love the pattern of straight lines that crisscross the “straight line” of the boardwalk path.
Central Florida is noted for its many springs bubbling up from the underground limestone aquafer. Many people, all of them young, were choosing to walk up the shallow river in the 72 degree (constant) water. They saw the wonders of the spring water up close but I chose the boardwalk even though it seemed a bit unstable, triggering my height anxiety occasionally. The straight boards shoring it up didn’t seem to increase my confidence in its safety, but my desire to explore the beauty of this unique landscape pushed me forward.
Thanks, Cee, for presenting this challenge of “Straight Lines” that gave me a chance to meander through my maze of files (in my brain and computer) looking for examples of boardwalks.
A New Day: Living Life Almost Gracefully 
These lines are far more interesting than straight lines, and I’d love to head down several of these pathways.
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All wonderful pics, especially the sandy path taken in Canada.
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That’s one of my favorites. 🙂
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Beautiful! I just love paths like these 🙂
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Oh, what a clever response to Cee’s challenge! Seeing all these boardwalk photos together really emphasises all the intriguing shapes they create as their lines intersect and connect! I love to find a boardwalk too as I know I’m in for a comfortable and interesting walk 😀
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I love walking on the forest floor but at my age, if I look up without stopping I’m in for a fall. Thanks for your feedback – I love it when a challenge allows me to do something like this.
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oops – ***fairly*** not fairy though fairy does bring with it a sense of ‘falling down drunk’ now doesn’t it???!
🙂
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LOL – I also know that in GB fairies live under bridges. Maybe also under boardwalks in the “New World.”
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Boardwalks are the original organic fairy non-intrusive means in which we humans can get up front and personal with certain natural areas (such as swamps). And they actually contribute to the beauty in which they are placed/constructed IMHO.
I admit to chuckling at your ‘falling down drunk’ comment – spoken from the vantage point of experience!??? (Just having some fun with that)
Enjoy your Michigan October!
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Just what other’s have told me, Laura. LOL Thanks for the great comment.
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Bonus 1: board walks protect the environment by keeping us off exposed roots and ground-level ecosystems. Bonus 2: board walks can show us another world at treetop level. (I love them too.)
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You gave me a really big smile. Thanks.
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These are beautiful images, Pat! Thank you for the enjoyable walk. 🙂
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Do you like boardwalks, too? 🙂
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I do like boardwalks, not common in TX though. 😊
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My daughter lives in Victoria, south of Houston, and I don’t remember a boardwalk even on the shores of the Gulf. I think she said there was a boardwalk in Galveston and Corpus Christie. I haven’t been to either.
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I searched but didn’t find out why it is called a ‘bald’ cypress. Any idea? What I did find out is that the oldest known living specimen, found along the Black River in North Carolina, is at least 2,624 years old – the oldest living tree in eastern North America. Amazing.
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Yes, that is amazing. I have assumed the name is because bald cypress drop their leaves for winter – one of the few deciduous trees in southern Florida.
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I adore your straight lines Pat. Wonderful post 😀 😀
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Thanks – but it makes me wonder if you are seeing ‘straight’ at this time. 😀
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