Baptism at Wakulla Springs

An afternoon at Wakulla Springs

One of the earliest lessons children in Florida learn is that swimming in fresh water can be dangerous. Beware of the alligators signs are everywhere. But the Sunshine state is also blessed with more than six hundred fresh water springs, some of which are open for swimming and communing with nature. Andrew Skerritt recounts his first visit to Wakulla Springs, located deep in the forests of North Florida.

Baptism at Wakulla Springs

Every cell in my body seems to protest as I step gingerly into Wakulla Springs. The average water temperature is about sixty-eight degrees, but on a steamy-hot Florida afternoon, it feels near freezing. But I’ve come twenty miles from home in Tallahassee; it’s too late to turn back. It’s time to be baptized into one of the deepest and largest freshwater springs in the world.

To read and hear the complete essay, visit Living On Earth at www.loe.org