View from the Middle of the Creek/Walk to Water

We've had some toasty, summer-like days recently. And as excited as everybody else gets about this, I have to admit to you right up front that I am just not a fan. Average high temperatures in April around here have historically been in the low 60s F, with overnight lows in the 30s.

On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, our daily highs were suddenly in the low to mid 80s, which are more typical of July and August here. You know what that makes a girl like me want and need: COLD WATER!!!!

I did some laundry and planted some things in the morning, and then we packed our water shoes and chairs and daysacks in the car and headed for Cherry Run. We parked the car in a parking lot along the road and walked to the creek, set up our chairs, and commenced wading in the nice, refreshing water.

Now, as soon as we got there, I looked up in time to see what I thought was a chipmunk, leaping whole-hog into the side creek! Why on Earth is that chipmunk going diving without a wet suit? is what my silly brain instantly thought. But as it turns out, it was just a very large and muscular frog who jumped a distance that was easily 10 feet from the bank into the water!!!!

Above is a view of Cherry Run, taken while I had my water shoes on and was standing in the middle of the creek. Rhododendrons, which were plentiful in these woods, lined the stream bed. Green moss grows everywhere.

Now, water walking has its challenges, and none the more so than if you've had knee or ankle problems, which I did back in November, and off and on since. Underwater rocks are often slick, and I was careful not to slip.

So I tried to take it easy and stuck mostly to the shallow spots, but I had wonderful views of the creek from there, and took many abstract water photos, which made me happy. The sunlight played and sparkled upon the waters, and the water molecules wrote cuneiform messages with the dancing light.

My husband warned me that by fall, he wants to go backpacking in the Hammersley Wild Area again, which is famous for its water crossings (see past blips here and here), especially in springtime. So we'll hope that I'm back to full ankle and knee power by then!

We romped and frolicked by the creek and in it, and then sat and read our books and listened to music, while I drank cold birch beer I'd brought along (a favorite of Grammy Carvell, and yes, I AM Grammy Carvell's girl) and we ate snack crackers.

I'd brought Tiny Tiger and the Moose and the Anteater along, and they played by a side stream that was just loaded with water skippers. You know how I love to photograph the circles the rain makes; well, with water skippers, the circles are like ones made by the rain, but on STEROIDS!

I did take a picture of my feet as I was standing at the edge of the little side stream and it appears in the extras. You can see the colorful blooms on the trees overhead reflected in the water.

Eventually, starvation got the better of us, and in late afternoon, we still had several stops to make: I needed some garden fencing and laundry spray at the Dollar Tree, and we had prescriptions and groceries to pick up at Walmart on our way back. 

So we skedaddled on out of there, and stopped at a nearby Brother's Pizza, where we split an Italian hoagie that was quite good. I snarfed my half down in record time, and off we went, headed for errands, and then for home.

Now, this ends the story of Cherry Run, but there were some other important milestones that occurred on this day. I saw my first hummingbird of the year at 8:37 in the morning. 

The feeder was on the clothes line over the deck at that point, and I would shortly move it down onto a shepherd's hook in the yard so that I could hang laundry on the line. After I moved it, the hummingbird came back to the spot where the feeder had been, and surveyed with some interest (and then disappointment) a pair of my purple panties on the line. 

Of course, what did I do? I filled a second feeder and took it out, moved the purple undies aside, and hung the second feeder on the line in the exact spot where the first one had been. The heck with the laundry; hummingbirds come first around here!

Our day began and ended with hummingbirds. As my husband and I sat in the living room reviewing the highlights of what we both agreed was a Pretty Darn Good Day, we watched the last light of the setting sun on the far hills. Had a drink. Had a chat.

And I caught sight of a little flutter out of the corner of my eye. I looked up to discover a hummingbird, so tiny, so adorable, sitting on the power line just outside the front window. Just the three of us: man, woman, and tiny bird, enjoying the sunset. I'll hope to get you some photos soon, but for now, those are the hummingbird stories to tide you over till then!

I've got two photos, so I've got two songs. I know both photos are of Cherry Run, but I'm going to highjack one of the songs to welcome the (as yet not shown here) hummingbirds. So for the creek, I've got the Band, with Up on Cripple Creek. 

Our hummingbirds left us last September on the day that both of my parents died. I was visited a bit later on by a hummingbird in Pine Grove Mills, who was bearing a message from my father. Today, they have returned, and we are joyous and grateful. My song for them is Welcome Back, by John Sebastian.