Summerhawk in Summer Splendor
June 28, 2008

The debris field left behind after the high water this spring. this picture is taken on the back side of the beaver hooch, just downstream of their broken dam....
 

This was the only man-made artifact left on our property after the high waters receded.... of course, it was removed and taken up top.  Being a bit of a purist, I almost didn't put this photo in the walkabout because - well, it's not natural, but still.... it just seemed to weirdly fit.  It was imbedded in a vast sand bar - like the one seen above.

Pebbles bake dry, revealed by quieted waters. They seem almost concentric to me....

Wild Shasta daisies - these fill my heart with perfect happiness. I cannot say why or how - they just simply do and always have.

The thick stems of coyote willows spring from the deep sandy banks of Divide Creek.... and hide a little something in their shadows....

And here's the little something close up.... 
what a marvelous discovery! A spotted sandpiper nest with four little ones on the way!

Indian paintbrush and yellow clover

Sadly, this was one of the few tracks I saw around the old beaver hooch. No ducks or cranes. No beaver, no fish, no frogs.... only a ferret track near the orange water.... but that is another tale. as beautiful as these photos are, there is a deep deep sadness in my heart on this day.  But the eagles remind me that we are not alone, that we are carried and blessed and live our lives in the currents of a listening wind....

I am so sorry. I really just wanted to show you the beauty of Summerhawk on this walkabout. What we discovered was unexpected and deeply troubling. I didn't mean for it to cross over into this pictorial journey - but it did. This is real. It blends in our lives, just like that - as much as we try to keep it separate. This footprint of the raccoon that walked on the banks of Divide Creek reminds me of those without voice that live quietly  among the unfathomable.

This piece of driftwood rests lightly, almost Zen-like upon a submerged boulder right where it passed over as the waters fell. To see it.... to study and think about the happenstance of it....

Well, it's Zen for me too....

South side of what remains of the beavers' dam. It took a beating and still - it manages to hang in there. The sand bar beyond - all newly deposited this Spring during extremely high run-off.

East end of beaver hootch as it now flanks Divide Creek

Back side (east end) of beaver hooch. It is sad to see it high, dry and apparently abandoned - at least temporarily (we hope), but look at the beautiful construction. This humble little beaver house withstood raging waters and floating debris, including whole trees, that flowed all the way up to tree-line. That is really something. Beaver rock! The creek bed has been significantly altered from the high waters this spring. A scoured creek bed has left behind deep sandbars, new seeds and newly exposed and deposited rocks and gravels. Soon, these barren sand bars will spring up with new foliage, and give new critters a chance to find a peaceful home here in Sumemrhawk Valley.

Okay - I really can't put any more photos on this page or it will positively never download for anyone - even with high-speed, so - if you'd like to continue on our walkabout, click here for a jaunt about the forest....

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