Two weeks ago, shortly after Hurricane Debby came through our area, I made a trip out to Manatee Springs State Park. I had been told that the swimming area around the spring was closed due to flooding, but I had no idea just how flooded it was. The water was definitely well above where it had been on previous visits and had covered sidewalks and step into the swimming area. Just outside the swimming area there is a marsh that’s always very pretty and it has a lot of cypress trees and cypress knees. The water had completely covered all the knees, but some flooding wasn’t bothering the trees at all. In fact, the trees were looking quite healthy and happy. The spring water, which is normally very clear, was also dark in color since the rain had washed tannins into the water from the oaks. It made a great reflective surface that showed each tree in much greater detail than the clear water does. All in all, the spring was quite pretty in its flooded state. My only disappointment was that the water was too deep for effective fishing by the wading birds, so they had all gone elsewhere.