I found the root of the name,"Everglades", fascinating. Being that it the old english word "glade" originated from the Anglo-Saxon "glaed", which mean "bright or "shining". Which was meant to describe the water. Being a life-long Floridian myself, I can only assume that European explorers must of been bewildered by the beauty of the low sun hitting the tops of the water on Okeechobee.
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| "The miracle of the light pours over the green and brown expanse of saw grass and of water, shining and slow-movingbelow, the grass and water that is the meaning and central fact of the Everglades of Florida. It is a river of grass." |
A large part of her description of the Everglades touched upon the grass. Not just any grass, "sawgrass" (Which technically isn't grass). The sawgrass is what distinguisheds the everglades form anyhwere else on earth. Its the largest deposit of sawgrass in the world. "They called them "Pa-hay-okee," which is the Indian word for 'Grassy Water.'"
Marjory also describes the rock beneath Okeechobee and the Everglades and its vast importance the this ecosystem. The sandstone beneath the Everglades helps to separate the salt water and freshwater from conjoining.
"To understand the Everglades, one must first understand the rock."
Marjory Stoneman Douglasis certainly a woman we can all look up to. Her telling of the nature of the Everglades furthers a love for a place I've really never fully experienced, but the way she describes every last detail of the land really paints an eloquent picture as if it were right in front of me.
