We have had torrential downpours today, the ground is saturated, the trees are dripping, all our streams are full, but for the moment we have a reprieve, and although the sky is not clear, there is some light, and I walk through the woods
All around me leaves made more green, if it were possible to out shine spring, by the rain’s sweet caress. Tree trunks shrink from the light dark, dark, darkened by the sky’s relentless tears. Under the canopy of the forest a constant drip of water flows down.
A breeze shakes the treetops and the smattering of drops increases. If such a thing is possible, the swarm of mosquitoes also thickens a bit. A rabbit in the underbrush is disturbed by my presence and moves more closely into the briar patch.
Where I live, the rabbits are bold. They stand in my front yard and stare at me. Much colder than the opossums and raccoons. Here in the woods, however, they are much more shy and they actually do hide in the Briarpatch. There are plenty of briars here in the Kennedy Forest. I think it is the owls and hawks that make them so shy.
My attempts to slap away the mosquitoes are not very effective, and as I walk into the marshy area that is most likely their home, I can hear them cheering me on. I make my way through the ankle deep water, duck under some branches, and emerge onto Government Drive.
The water from Swamp Edward, so named because so much of the famed explorer was left there, flows through culverts under Government Drive to the other side, where it becomes a stream wending its way toward the zoo where it flows under the north parking lot and disappears forever into caverns measureless to man; just like the sacred river Alph.
Walking back to my car I think of my experience in the marshlands, where I found myself repeatedly brushing my ears to move away the squadrons of mosquitoes who would settle there, just as they would land on the back of my neck when I would lean forward for a photo. I don’t think I’ve given that much blood since my last Red Cross visit! Then I hear the barred owl calling.
#ForestPark365 #BarredOwlCalling #GiveBlood #RainandRainandRainandRain
Alph the sacred river ran through caverns measureless to man. Click on image for more photos