Ox Fall Down

This is from Scott Parker. He's in the middle of a two year project in which he'll paint in every national park in the country, including the Virgin Islands. This is the entire letter.

still have not got the florida fish - however today i entered
everglades np and fished while paddling- upon exiting the flamingo harbor makay
and i went left about half a mile towards joe kemp key - while we were
resting i spotted two bronze tails - redfish? no they moved in tandem -
the wrong color for a nurse shark - perhaps cobia - makay then
exclaimed "tarpon" as he watched it broadside his boat(kayak)- we both
scrambled to rig our rods and begin to cast - the tarpon were thick - the
tarpon were large 70 to 80 lbs - the water was a paddle blade deep on the
incoming tide and cloudy from big storms over the past few days -
suddenly we saw a tarpon pushing the water and rise out of the water with a
mullet infront of and then in his unlocked jaw - we continued to fish
from the seated positions in our boats for the flat was the silty sucking
mud that you immediately sink in - i tried and learned - then a tailing
tarpon came straight for me and rammed the side of my boat before
quickly splitting - i got many casts in the right range but no response -
finally another tarpon came for the boat after ignoring my fly - so i
reached to touch its flank - the fish saw this and turned abruptly sending
a rooster tail at me as my hand brushed its slimey scales - later it
occured to me that if i had the courage to dive at it i could have ridden
it - tailing tarpon -

later in the afternoon i saw the fins of dolphins and watched these
mammals seeking the mullet too - the water around my boat then began to
boil and the dolphins rubbed against the bottom of the boat - i braced my
legs in the event that their force capsized me - they passed and i was
able to watch them for a while longer -

i am eager to work in this magnificent park - the drive in to and out
of flamingo was inspiring -

happy trails
swp