Chief Chaos, I know what you mean. One of my favorite memories is of taking our wooden rowboat down some bayous near Houma, Louisiana. These were narrow canals through the wetlands, sometimes no wider than our oars. We saw cypresses hung with Spanish moss, irises growing out of mats of vegetation, and a big owl in a cypress tree. Once I was trying to take a picture of a flower and a hummingbird flew right into view. I didn't get its picture - it disappeared too quickly.

As for What's-her-name's song about the Blue Bayou, I have always thought it was so corny. I come from the Great Lakes area, and I happen to know that "fishing boats with their sails afloat" would be a truly pathetic sight.