An eagle is building a nest on Deer Creek this spring. It has been a long, long time since that has happened. What a wonderful sight it is. The Beerys are trying to stay away from that section of the creek to keep from disturbing them. Eagles and hawks were non-existant when I was growing up on the farm in the 40' and 50's. The hawks returned in the 90's with a healthy population Eastern Red Shouldered Hawks in the countryside. The return of the eagles will complete the recovery of the earth here from the overuse of DDT in the first part of the last century.
One of the first things we looked for on the creek walk was Jerry's watercress. It grows in a swampy area between the creek and his 5 acre field. Astonishingly it was green and it was everywhere. Janie was wearing knee length rubber boots, so she walked into the water to get closer. But she stepped into a very soft spot and her foot just kept sinking. I reached out to grab her arm at the same time she dove for solid ground and we fell on the ground. There is quicksand even in Madison County!
In the middle of the Beery section of Deer Creek is low lying area to the east. It is normally dry, but it fills with water when the creek goes out of banks. When I was a teen, some friends and I found water and large carp trapped in that low area. The flood level had dropped. Carp were considered trash fish then, so we killed them using machetes. It was a wonder we didn't lose an arm or leg charging around that shallow water like the idiots we were. We took the fish to town to some families we knew who would cook and eat them.
There is a lot of erosion along the banks on the Young farm. I spent a lot of time there growing up: hunting, fishing, camping and riding horses. The big bend there was my swimming hole. It was great fun to jump my horse off the 5 foot high banks. That bank has lost a lot through erosion. But the real shock was at the southern end of Young creek bottom. There is a large rock on the east bank that I loved to fish. But the west bank has eroded so much that it cannot be reached by anything but a shotgun now. All I could do is stare at the great distance between me and that rock.
The island that we used to camp on is now firmly attached to the west bank. Silt filled in the northern end of the channel. I don't know when that happened. To the west of the creek, the hillside that was once grassy is now overgrown with brush and tall trees. Good for the deer!
The ground was too wet to start the garden until the very end of the month. Peas, spinach and onions can be planted by the middle of March. They do not like hot weather that arrives here in June. John Young and I are going put a cooperative garden in at the Young farm. They have water to drive sprinklers and someone will be there to give the garden some attention while I am gone. And hopefully the mower person won't feel the need to level the garden at first frost . That was always happening to me whenever I was gardening under the auspices of Cousin Slagle.
trip 1 to bb walk
trip 2 to bb