One with Nature
Unexpectedly, I found myself at Lake Cherokee for the 4th of July. Relatives of people we know have a house there and they were very hospitable to strangers. The water was so inviting that I plunged right in, only to find that it was several degrees warmer than refreshing.
Aduma and I swam maybe a half-mile over to the other side of the lake (our friend accompanied us in the paddleboat) and played on a sandbar for a while, feeling the mud between our toes and the strong wind which convinced us not to try the swim back. I had already seen hundreds of swallows and a couple of bluebirds near the edges of the water, but I was among non-birders and kept quiet about it. But when a Green Heron flew over I could not contain myself. The sun glinted off its rich, dark colors as it swept by just a few feet away. "Green Heron, Green Heron!"
No response. I really should get this by now.
Later, as we played on the beach and Aduma was trying to explain something to me, he asked what was so fascinating about the view over his left shoulder. I hadn't realized that two Eastern Kingbirds in a tree had so wholly absorbed my visual attention. When I explained, he actually looked at them for at least five seconds. Maybe someday he will find his calling.
When we emerged from the water and prepared to go in to supper, Aduma casually looked down and removed a leech from his foot. There were two attached to my leg. The horror, the horror! My appreciation of nature still excludes hospitality to parasites, and I must confess that a short period of semi-hysteria followed the discovery that I could not remove the second from the back of my calf.
Nature is not always friendly. Sometimes it wants your very lifeblood. So much for the universal consciousness.
Aduma and I swam maybe a half-mile over to the other side of the lake (our friend accompanied us in the paddleboat) and played on a sandbar for a while, feeling the mud between our toes and the strong wind which convinced us not to try the swim back. I had already seen hundreds of swallows and a couple of bluebirds near the edges of the water, but I was among non-birders and kept quiet about it. But when a Green Heron flew over I could not contain myself. The sun glinted off its rich, dark colors as it swept by just a few feet away. "Green Heron, Green Heron!"
No response. I really should get this by now.
Later, as we played on the beach and Aduma was trying to explain something to me, he asked what was so fascinating about the view over his left shoulder. I hadn't realized that two Eastern Kingbirds in a tree had so wholly absorbed my visual attention. When I explained, he actually looked at them for at least five seconds. Maybe someday he will find his calling.
When we emerged from the water and prepared to go in to supper, Aduma casually looked down and removed a leech from his foot. There were two attached to my leg. The horror, the horror! My appreciation of nature still excludes hospitality to parasites, and I must confess that a short period of semi-hysteria followed the discovery that I could not remove the second from the back of my calf.
Nature is not always friendly. Sometimes it wants your very lifeblood. So much for the universal consciousness.
1 Comments:
Leeches, wow! First the worm woods and now the leech lake. Adventures seem to be drawn to you. : )
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