During my recent visit to the Gulf Coast of Florida, my uncle Marty, quite spry at 81, took me for a lovely walk that stimulates all of the senses at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, near Naples, Florida, just north of the western edge of Everglades National Park. According to the Florida Environmental Department, "Visitors to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary find a gentle, pristine wilderness. A 2.25 mile boardwalk meanders through pine flatwoods, open prairies, and finally into the largest forest of ancient bald cypress in North America. These impressive trees, relatives of the redwood, tower 130 feet into the sky and have a girth of 25 feet. Their massive branches are draped with mosses, lichens, air-plants, orchids and ferns. The forest is also home to hundreds of (animals). The boardwalk winds through the swamp's two "lettuce lakes," wide, shallow soup bowls that are favorite feeding grounds for wildlife. ... Almost 200 birds are permanent or temporary residents of the Sanctuary. ... Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is owned and operated by the National Audubon Society and acclaimed as the crown jewel of the Audubon's sanctuaries." Images ŠAlan Sheckter / alsheck@comcast.net. Images may not be republished without documented consent of the photographer.