A Saturday Walk

When the weather is rainy and stormy as it has been lately, it's much too muddy for Lucie and I to do our usual walk. So, I take her to the marsh. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but let me explain. The class B road behind my house, our normal place to walk, becomes a muddy quagmire when it rains. Jensen Marsh, a county conservation park just north of town, is much better. Our trail there is an old raised railroad bed...no tracks left, but the gravel road is still there. No mud! When Lucie ventures off the trail, she leaps into the marshy water and swims. Still no mud! Wet, I can deal with. So today we went to the marsh. A lovely day to walk. In the 70's with a breeze, my kind of weather. We stayed on the trail so our jaunt lasted about 40 minutes altogether; we can go off the path and circle the marsh, but the grass is high and I wasn't keen on getting tick-infested.

There's so much to see even on this brief outing. The marsh attracts all type of water fowl. The Canada geese 'talked' to us as we passed. A variety of ducks dotted the water. I spied a kingfisher as well as a little blue heron. Non-water birds love the area, too. Myriads of red-wing blackbirds, grackles, goldfinch, and sparrows hurried from bush to bush. Frogs trilled from hiding places along the water's edge. Dragonflies and butterflies flitted from flower to flower. Bees buzz-z-z-zed.

Wild roses perfumed the air. Peeking up through the thick grasses, I saw lovely purple spiderwort. Such an icky name for a beautiful flower! Down in the ditches, wild iris (or blue flag, as it's called in the Midwest) stood knee-deep in brackish water. Within a few weeks there will be cattails lining the banks of the marsh and ripe black raspberries to nibble on as we walk. Lucie was wet and panting when we return to the car. It's been her kind of day, too!

There is a down side to this heavenly place to walk. In the summer of 2005, Remy and I were walking here. He suddenly stiffened and backed away from the edge of the trail staring intently into the grass. As I got closer, I could hear a whispery rattle. Remy trembled as I peered carefully into the thick grass. All I caught was a quick glimpse of a brownish body and the rattles as a timber rattler slithered away down the bank. I walk very carefully now with eyes wide open!