Ring Of Bright Water

There is a creek that flows through Bellevue with access points nearly everywhere we walk. We have gone for a drink and/or a swim near Old Hickory Boulevard, and at a dozen more places between there and Sawyer Brown Road, nearly three miles west as the creek winds. We have seen common water snakes, snapping turtles, ducks, great blue herons and deer along what the map calls Flat Creek. This afternoon we hit the jackpot.

Grace led me down to Flat Creek at the access point nearest our condo. On these hot summer days, she likes to go for a swim, or at least a deep wade, at the beginning of the 90+ degree afternoon walk. She went right in, wading as deep as the shallow water would let her. I always look for snakes and snappers before I let her go in, and it was all clear. She was wading upstream, where the water gets deeper, so I looked ahead for anything dangerous. There was a major disturbance of the surface about thirty feet ahead, like I had never seen in this creek. A muskrat? A beaver? I pulled Grace onto dry land, and we walked over to the disturbed place. I didn't expect to see whatever it was. I figured it had gone into its hidey hole under the bank or somewhere out of sight. I certainly didn't expect to see one of my all-time favorite mammals, a river otter, cavorting in the water. There it was, chasing the little fish and otherwise frolicking underwater! We watched, mesmerized. The otter came up for air, saw us, and hissed at us, baring its sharp pointed teeth, then went back down, making its way further upstream and away from us. We watched it out of sight around the bend.

Great. Now I'll be disappointed every time we go to an otter-free creek access.  

Deer Deer

It's been a long time since I've been moved to write a WWG post. This morning's walk was truly moving.

Our little corner of Nashville, Bellevue, is a hodgepodge of retail stores, restaurants, churches, single family homes, condominium communities and apartment complexes, with wild places (rapidly shrinking) in between. The rabbit population is dense, so much so that Grace has now caught twelve in her first year here. This also means that coyotes prowl the neighborhoods at night. I have seen one coyote, and Grace has detected them on several occasions. When she does, she tells the whole world about it.

This morning we were walking one of our habitual routes, crossing the drainage ditch between Old Harding Pike and Wynbrook condominium community, when we saw what we initially thought were two greyhounds bounding through the landscaping. We stopped to watch, and were confronted with two deer headed for the woods. They stopped about thirty feet from us and returned our stares. Grace lunged to the end of her four foot leash, and one deer bounded away. The other stayed, continuing to stare. She took a couple of steps closer. We also stepped closer. She took another step in our direction, still staring. Grace lunged again, and the deer took off , following her friend into the woods. We were about twenty feet apart before she ran off. It was our closest encounter ever with a deer.

I did not want a dog. I knew that I would be the one doing the feeding and the walking. I was right, of course, but the walking has changed my life in many ways, many of them welcome. Damn it!