Aloft

It isn’t rare for winds to streak across the surface of Lake Okeechobee, picking up speed as they travel, flowing across the dikes like waves. But some mornings are windier than others, and this was one of them. Clouds blanketed our views of the starry night as dawn grew close, bringing a sunrise with no drama, just a silvery sheen that enveloped earth and sky. Stepping onto the trail, I felt as if a sail would blast us due south all the way to Miami, the headwind so strong that headway was challenging. As flocks of egrets and swallows rose to meet the morning, tendrils of wind lifted the flocks into swoops and dives that they themselves didn’t seem to expect. After a few hours of walking, we watched patches of blue open up in the quilted sky, allowing streamers of sunlight to paint the tips of the marsh grasses in a fiery yellow. A symphony of sun and wind, cloud and reflection, played out on the vast canvas of sky and water that is Lake Okeechobee.