(Mangrove Day Special)
Dear Mangroves,
You don’t ask for much.
Just a little brackish water, a little mud, and the patience of tides. And in return, you give everything.
Your roots cradle life—tiny silver minnows darting between your toes, baby snook hiding from what hunts them, herons stepping carefully through your shadow. You are nurseries, safe places, the first home for so many of Florida’s wild things.
But you are more than that.
You stand where land meets sea, arms locked together, holding the line when storms come. You never ask if the homes behind you are worth saving. You just take the beating—wave after wave, wind after wind—while we humans board up our windows and hope for the best.
I’ve seen you after hurricanes, still standing, tangled roots holding tight while everything else around you washed away.
And yet we forget you. Cut you back for waterfront views. Tear you down for seawalls that crack under the same storms you quietly withstand.
So this is my thank you.
Thank you for being our shield. Thank you for raising the next generation of fish and crabs and birds. Thank you for holding the edge of Florida in place when the ocean tries to take it back.
We don’t deserve you, but we need you.
Always.