Gravity Fingers

    Please come. Get into the self-driving machine.  Let me clear the glass of moisture.  Gravity fingers streak the hatchback window, vertical path of water’s descent.  Figures. What comes down must show up.

   Pit stop: An irregular customer has spilled coffee amid the thermoses at the bakery. When I reach for a cup from the upside-down stack, she says Be Careful. I haven’t even noticed the mess, she’s interrupting my focus. Meg and Carryl come with white towels and we mop it up. Good as new. Not the first time, won’t be the last, Meg says to the apologetic customer, a spectator lost in translation.

    Gofer walk:  Do I see an empty M&M peanut package? Yes, it is on the ground near the balance beam parcours station. Could be useful. 

  Rain overnight, damp earth, sun beginning to towel off world. Cobwebs stick out now, funny how a cobweb is so unorganized compared to a spiderweb. Cobwebs are a mishmash of crisscrossed lines. Clusters and clumps. Scrutinize and jam your brain. Spiderwebs are so neat and open and plain to see.

   My walk is nothing, my path is everyday, ordinary. Nothing special.  What is unusual, what sticks out or is everyday the same? What changes, what blends in? Daily practice in the watershed.

   A mallard duck presents himself in the shallow rapids. Seems not to be standing, or sitting, he looks like a boat run aground, enjoying the flow of water around him without having to paddle his legs.

   How can there be no herons?

   There are four blotches on the asphalt near the Heritage Center so I write them down. It is a four day. Marvelling at the Virginia Bluebells, wildflower of the moment. Initially the buds look tight and  crimped. They are at once mauve, lavender, pink and purple. Behold the beauty when it blooms full cry:  the crimps come out and the bell flower is pure light powder blue. Little trumpets, little trumpets, echo of the woods.

   One plucked unopened red tulip is on the path above the ten marker. Dottie is the first walker I meet today. We bemoan the poor pickature of innocent petals by those who should know better. She, who has come from the opposite direction, warns me: the goose is standing guard. By the time I reach the locks, he is swimming in the murky water below his mate, who’s cleaning her muddy self on what looks like an eggless nest. Sad.

   A pair of mallards busy themselves feeding on the nutrient rich plants in the locks, heads down, bills in the pool. When  I return , they are fast asleep on a branch in the water, parallel to each other, heads tucked in facing each other, kind of sweet, if I may impose my own view.

   Camera ready. Regular batteries, big difference. Lithium last longer. Insistant BATTERY EXHAUSTED message. Turn off. Wait and see. There’s some juice left in the photographic silo.

   Ah! a deer. Almost missed it. Oh! another one. Camouflage. Another and another. It is so close to where I saw the deer in the grass in the fall. Could one of these be that one, grown more? Could be. Could be.

   Less sun by the time walk is done. Many squirrels out today. Was unable to take picture of tree top with four squirrels nibbling the fresh leaf buds, the tiny tender green sprouts of spring. Their furry squirrel forms along the limbs, some out to precarious places in search of the new nourishment and delights of the season. Sometimes it’s amazing now they stay up.

Ether Bunny

the hutch

 Two herons fly from close to water , at least one goes up over the red covered bridge. Fifty degree temperatures and bright sun. Nice day for visiting. Dead trout under the foot bridge at 12 marker, but that’s just water over the dam. Come to think of it, one of the fishermen was casting upstream at the mill bridge, contrarian!

4.5 Cracked Up to Be

eggshells

Just fine. Just the way I found them.  Just as they are.

Smooth Nylon Shrimp

Good morning, little suction cups! The website Pink Tentacle brings to our attention the fascinating world of Smooth Nylon Shrimp: part nature, part sci-fi/SFX,  part new rock band name. Visit today for an interesting oceanic experience! Hold on to your seats!

 http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/10/shrimp-defense-glowing-blue-spit-cloud-video/

Seven Youths and Seven Virgins

This is the diet of the Minotaur. Is Birthday Cake a fair substitute?

7 Youths and 7 Virgins

The Day of the Labyrinth

Labyrinthine

 

   Secret Language of Birthdays for today reads: March 20. The Day of the Labyrinth, so it was decided early that after my walk I would visit the nearest labyrinth. A friend of mine celebrates a birthday today, which the birthday book reveals indicates strengths in the Logical-Sensitive-Versatile areas of life.

  The Heron Report for today is: two  – I repeat TWO! herons at the mill picnic area and two at two other locations. Three of them flew about to as if to show off for a special occasion.

First Heron of Spring 09

 

I reflected that walking helps me – or so one hopes – reflect. Thus the heron’s reflection inverted:

mirror image mirrored

   There was a muskrat in the canal lock, a man who opened his arms to welcome spring, and still some damp chill in the air, and when I got back to the picnic and parking area, the Santa figure still atop the chimney of the park office, an old farmhouse, was incongruous, if not jarring. The park crew were removing some the last of the holiday lights.

   On my way to the labyrinth was a sign: Spring Equinox, Event 7-9 PM and a woman who identified herself as the labyrinth corrdinator (how does one get a job like that?) was decorating the labyrinth area with plastic garlands and flowers and invited me to attend the celebration, which will include Earthrhythms drums and Green Man stories and spring traditions and please wear something Springlike. Springish.

   Walked the path of the labyrinth, curving round the course that is like a creative cranium written on land.

cranial curves