1) A water moccasin. Yeah, that goes at the top of the list. That’s what other people said the snake was – I can’t say I’ve seen one before. The reptile was wide and dark, moving slowly across the ground into the underbrush.

2) The fattest, biggest squirrel I have ever seen. A grampa squirrel. A very uncharacteristic squirrel. It was dark grey, almost black in color, seemed to like our attention, walked boldly across our blanket, sunned itself like a lizard, and, when a 3) lizard came into sight, the squirrel went and chased it around.

4) Cypress trees with knobby “knees” poking up from the stream bed.

5) I think they were bird nests. Round, grey structures with holes in them. High up on the cave wall. I only noticed them when I was floating on my back looking up at the sky.

6) Many tiny red ants.

7) Many tiny white shells.

8) Many tiny silver minnows. 

9) Bigger, gold-fishy types who enjoyed crumbled corn chips. collected around feet for food. It seems like it would be so easy to grab a fish, but hands slow down too much when they reach beyond air.

10) The sound of water hitting water.

Update: Later today, someone told me that park rangers at Hamilton Pool told him that that fat squirrel has been hanging out there for a few years…eating all the garbage and living the high life.