(Nature writing) Bliss
Jul. 2nd, 2006 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ferineYesterday... bliss.
Trekked to the nature preserve that skirts the Adams County Fairgrounds, accompanied by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cyberwolf007 and spiritcougar.
A nice overcast day, for once, albeit on the hot side and surprisingly humid.
As we took the lake's shoulder at a leisurely pace, I noted a number of cormorants, blue herons and pelicans in the water. The water was as placid as the birds relaxing on it. Barely a human park-inhabitant in sight, curious for such a nice day.
A few of the water birds would flap their great wings, and skim the lake surface as they rose to circle above, only to land near the same spot they had just left. The pelicans were awfully huge and jarringly white. A single band of dark gray fringed their wingtips and circled their breast, sides, and tail. Watching them, a funny image struck me: a pelican wearing a Roman war helmet, and declaring himself Pelicus, the pelican equivalent of Spartacus. Thus even uttering the name Pelicus became our inside joke for the day.
Pressing on, it started to sprinkle sporadically, and the wind picked up. The scent of rain was intoxicating. The magic canopy cottonwood was heavy with leaves, and resembled a ti-pi in shape. We gathered inside, enjoying its embrace. The wind whipped around us, yet the leafy limbs surrounding us provided an amazing shelter. Then it rained -- not a mere shower, it poured hard and fast, bowing some trees in its magnitude. To our amazement and gratitude, the magic canopy cottonwood kept us remarkably dry. Only four drops of water hit my glasses during the episode's entirety!
I left the tree some ginger candy in thanks, and then we journeyed in the opposite direction. Traveled beneath a bridge to a less familiar path. The cement ended, but we pressed on alongside the South Platte River. We reached a gorgeously lush, green copse of trees near the river's edge. After off-roading to reach it, we began a cursory exploration. Cyberwolf found a plethora of feathers, and we made a neat discovery: a mummified snake! It was a cute green snake with a light yellow stripe down its back, only 11 inches in length. It was almost in a circle, with its head raised. It was light as a husk, yet it was intact. Mummified by the sun, perhaps? I wanted to bring it home, but I knew my girls wouldn't leave it alone. We left it where we found it, among sparse dry grasses at the 'gateway' of the lush copse of trees.
We had to return home for dinner, so we didn't have time to penetrate the copse. That will be a definite area to explore in the future.
Trekked to the nature preserve that skirts the Adams County Fairgrounds, accompanied by
cyberwolf007 and spiritcougar. A nice overcast day, for once, albeit on the hot side and surprisingly humid.
As we took the lake's shoulder at a leisurely pace, I noted a number of cormorants, blue herons and pelicans in the water. The water was as placid as the birds relaxing on it. Barely a human park-inhabitant in sight, curious for such a nice day.
A few of the water birds would flap their great wings, and skim the lake surface as they rose to circle above, only to land near the same spot they had just left. The pelicans were awfully huge and jarringly white. A single band of dark gray fringed their wingtips and circled their breast, sides, and tail. Watching them, a funny image struck me: a pelican wearing a Roman war helmet, and declaring himself Pelicus, the pelican equivalent of Spartacus. Thus even uttering the name Pelicus became our inside joke for the day.
Pressing on, it started to sprinkle sporadically, and the wind picked up. The scent of rain was intoxicating. The magic canopy cottonwood was heavy with leaves, and resembled a ti-pi in shape. We gathered inside, enjoying its embrace. The wind whipped around us, yet the leafy limbs surrounding us provided an amazing shelter. Then it rained -- not a mere shower, it poured hard and fast, bowing some trees in its magnitude. To our amazement and gratitude, the magic canopy cottonwood kept us remarkably dry. Only four drops of water hit my glasses during the episode's entirety!
I left the tree some ginger candy in thanks, and then we journeyed in the opposite direction. Traveled beneath a bridge to a less familiar path. The cement ended, but we pressed on alongside the South Platte River. We reached a gorgeously lush, green copse of trees near the river's edge. After off-roading to reach it, we began a cursory exploration. Cyberwolf found a plethora of feathers, and we made a neat discovery: a mummified snake! It was a cute green snake with a light yellow stripe down its back, only 11 inches in length. It was almost in a circle, with its head raised. It was light as a husk, yet it was intact. Mummified by the sun, perhaps? I wanted to bring it home, but I knew my girls wouldn't leave it alone. We left it where we found it, among sparse dry grasses at the 'gateway' of the lush copse of trees.
We had to return home for dinner, so we didn't have time to penetrate the copse. That will be a definite area to explore in the future.
