Dreaming the Marsh

South of Opakulla, along the straight gray strip of 226, between the “Guns” sign and Missitucknee, stretches the Marsh, old as time. Once it was an ocean, home to fish and the sliding shadows of sharks. Then the ocean fell away, and the sharks left their fierce teeth behind. Rain turned the salt lakes to fresh, ran creeks across the land, seeped down through the lime rock, cut and filled great caverns underground. Grasses, brush, trees and vines grew up and steamed in the Florida sun. Camels grazed in the grasslands; mastodons splashed in the shallow lakes. Millennia melted away, and children playing in the snaky scrub, slapping mosquitoes on their damp faces, found the ancient bones and told stories of giants in the Marsh.

The Marsh is full of stories; the Marsh is full of magic…

Dreaming the Marsh

South of Opakulla, along the straight gray strip of 226 between the “Guns” sign and Missitucknee, stretches the Marsh, old as time. Once it was an ocean, home to fish and the sliding shadows of sharks. Then the ocean fell away, and the sharks left their fierce teeth behind. Rain turned the salt lakes to fresh, ran creeks across the land, seeped down through the lime rock, cut and filled great caverns underground. Grasses, brush, trees and vines grew up and steamed in the Florida sun. Camels grazed in the grasslands; mastodons splashed in the shallow lakes. Millenia melted away, and children playing in the snaky scrub, slapping mosquitoes on their damp faces, found the ancient bones and told stories of giants in the Marsh.

The Marsh is full of stories; the Marsh is full of magic…

Meet the Author

Elizabeth McCulloch was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in New England, the Midwest, Canada, and the South, before putting down roots and finding her home in Gainesville, Florida, almost forty years ago. Previously a lawyer, then a teacher, she has had children of various stripes: one born, two foster, one step, and the granddaughter she is now raising with her husband.

Photo courtesy of Adrienne Fletcher Photography

Meet the Author

Elizabeth McCulloch was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in New England, the Midwest, Canada, and the South, before putting down roots and finding her home in Gainesville, Florida, almost forty years ago. Previously a lawyer, then a teacher, she has had children of various stripes: one born, two foster, one step, and the granddaughter she is now raising with her husband.