Heather Blake and I took Madalynn-Raye into the swamp for her first mud experience, this past Saturday. Maddy was very brave. The mud was a little bit cold, and she encountered resistance from a band of marauding fiddler crabs, but she was not deterred.
I offered to carry Madalynn-Raye through the swamp grass, so she wouldn’t hurt her feet, but she tromped through the treacherous grass without fear. I soon came to realize that Maddy was a lot like the “bad to the bone” Heather Blake. Speaking of Heather, she came along with her camera, and she took all of the photos you see in this post (except the one I took of her and Maddy together).
I took Maddy to a spot where the mud gets deeper, gradually, as you venture further from the edge. It didn’t take long, and Maddy was up to her crotch in the black, sucking mud. She managed to wriggle her slender body all the way across the mud to the other side, and back. She got a pretty good workout, and she got plenty messy. We didn’t make her put her head under the mud, since it was her first time. I’m pretty sure it won’t be her last time.
Of course, I took a camera and some audio gear, so I could record Maddy’s messy misadventure. Now that I write that, that’s what I should have named the clip! I even shot some video of Maddy getting cleaned up, and I included that with the final clip, although the audio wasn’t great on the cleanup scene, since I didn’t set up a separate audio recorder. There is a short teaser/trailer.
We all made it home, alive. As far as I know, Madalynn-Raye didn’t have any permanent damage. I know she was tired. Mudding seems to take a lot out of you. It’s great resistance exercise.
