Its a safe place. As long as u swim within the buoy. Outside of that "there are water moccasins", a little girl warns us, poisonous water snakes native to here.
It happens to be july 4th weekend, a celebration of the nations bday, but that's just a tangent. It's times like these that I can't help but feel something is different. The last place I want to swim is inside the buoy. It's not swimming, to stay inside the buoy that outlines the little beach on this lake. That is just floating and splashing. And so in short, it leaves me to wonder: Is it my immigrant old world sensibilities that make me not fear life beyond the buoy? Am I on the wrong coast? Would west coasters swim differently, build their state parks differently? Was I born in the wrong generation, where people fear the natural world?
We are at Indian Springs State Park. This is one of the countries oldest state parks. That's not the reason that anyone comes here. FDR (who was confined to a wheelchair due to polio) would come here, to this lake and to the natural springs to vacation, relax, and for spring therapy. The Creek indians used these springs " to treat the sick and invigorate the healthy." Hence the name and age of the park and FDR's (locally) famous retreats here. U can visit his cabin and compound and the little museum built to commemorate him, but like everyone here, we came for the beach. And to swim the lake. It's beautiful here, once u swim out in the lake and put some distance between u and the buoy.

map

Watch my little movie, shot on my cellphone.