My parents’ new home sits next to this beautiful river. I don’t just mean it runs nearby along the edge of the property. I mean the house sits next to the river, separated only by the garden and driveway. From the kitchen window you can look down into the river, see what’s visiting today. It’s not a small river, either, probably a good 30-40 feet (10-13 m) across in most spots. The water is still a little murky to really get a feel of how deep it is, but it is clearing up; back in September, when I saw it the first time, the water was very cloudy with silt, erosion, I presume, as a result of all the rain we had this summer.
The wildlife finds the river appealing, as well. There are beavers who have built a lodge in the river along the section that abuts my parents’ land. My dad and sister have apparently seen the residents, but neither my mom nor I have. I had hoped to get a photo of them this week. We have beavers resident on Kingsford, too, but you can’t get nearly this close to them. There’s also been Wood Ducks staging on the river, sometimes as many as 15 together in a flock. I hope that means that some will breed in the forest next spring, although the forest may still be a tad young, it’s hard to say. And Great Blue Herons wade along the shore. I don’t know if there’s fish in the creek, since it’s hard to see into the water, but if not they could just as easily be stalking frogs. My mom has also seen the herons at the small manmade pond on the property, and while I have actually seen little fingerling fish in there, it’s more likely that the frogs are their main interest there.
There’s something about water that lends so much life to a piece of land. Their property would be really nice just on its own, but having this river coursing along the length of the property’s northern edge makes it really nice.
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