[28 July, 2022]

Caddo Lake is as smooth as a mirror’s surface and filled with large yellow flowers proudly reaching for the sun. “When the flower has finished blooming, the fruit remains,” says Chaz, 38, born and raised in Uncertain, a small village bordering the lake. He picks up a ripe piece of fruit: “Here, have you ever tasted this?” Without hesitation, I bite into the sweet seeds of the American lotus.

Uncertain is on the border of Texas and Louisiana. It has 85 inhabitants and is buried deep in swampland. Large moss-covered cypress trees give the village a somewhat ghostly appearance. The town is perfect for anyone who does not want to be found. People take care of their own business here, and help from outsiders is not welcomed.

“The lake raised me. I am a real swamp rat,” says Chaz as his beard blows gently in the wind. “Life doesn’t come from a store. It starts in nature. Out here, if you need water, food, medicine, it’s all here, it’s all all around us.” It sounds like paradise, and I would rather not leave.

When I ask Chaz who I should definitely meet here, he immediately says: “Dottie! She used to be my teacher, and she’s the Superwoman from Uncertain.”

Before long, I find her. Dottie is 83 years old, and still likes to ride her Harley-Davidson, sometimes with a cape—she is Superwoman, indeed. She clearly loves life, as well as her raccoon, Willow, who is always perched on her shoulder or sitting in her lap.

Dottie owns a lot of land, including a small graveyard. “Always wanted one.” It came in handy when her husband, Billy, passed away last year. Wrapped up with cloth, he was six feet under within 12 hours. He thought he was dying of an infection because he had given a baby raccoon mouth-to-mouth, but Dottie disagrees.

“The average age of an Uncertainer is only 58. Fresh vegetables are hard to find here. And almost all of the food is deep-fried,” Dottie tells me. “Combined with frequent use of alcohol and cigarettes, it doesn’t appear to be the best way to grow old. And then there’s something about mercury in the water.”

Acclaimed scenery and mouths full of American lotus seeds—yet it’s less like paradise, after all. As it turns out, nothing is certain in Uncertain.