“It is raining,” Greg said. “Yes,” I replied as thunder rolled across the creek valley, “Perhaps it would be a good day to just relax.” He quickly agreed.
The plan was a simple one. After the float bed was done floating the seed trays, add a layer of dirt to the water, cast rice seeds, add goldfish to eat the mosquito larvae, and sit back and watch the rice grow.
The plan was a simple one. After the float bed was done floating the seed trays, add a layer of dirt to the water, cast rice seeds, add goldfish to eat the mosquito larvae, and sit back and watch the rice grow.
We live two miles down a one-lane, dead-end road. We drive past two farms to get to ours, and only one farm lies farther on down the creek, so on those rare occasions when we hear an approaching vehicle, it is cause for curious excitement.
I have no doubt that our creek valley world is ever so hardy, perfectly pure and wonderfully just, as it makes its way south to the river and our country beyond.
It was hot out, but not so hot that if I held my arms out to my side to cool and tilted my head to look up at the sky, I could see a lone turkey vulture soaring high above the creek valley fields, and think that I felt just a wee bit cooler.
It was hot out, but not so hot that if I held my arms out to my side to cool and tilted my head to look up at the sky, I could see a lone turkey vulture soaring high above the creek valley fields, and think that I felt just a wee bit cooler.
I was not quite ready to give up on the experiment. If the rice could grow tall enough to shade the water, then the temperature might not get so hot. The fish could survive and the rice could grow.
I was not quite ready to give up on the experiment. If the rice could grow tall enough to shade the water, then the temperature might not get so hot. The fish could survive and the rice could grow.
I look down the line of hives and watch as a steady stream of bees returns to each hive entrance. It looks as though only a few bees are still venturing out. It is getting late in the day. The sun is slipping over the hill behind the cabin.
On a summer evening, if I shine my flashlight through the trees around the edges of the fields, I can see thousands of pairs of small eyes glinting back at me. Hungry tree frogs are wonderful neighbors, indeed.
On a summer evening, if I shine my flashlight through the trees around the edges of the fields, I can see thousands of pairs of small eyes glinting back at me. Hungry tree frogs are wonderful neighbors, indeed.
I felt a part of the creek valley, I had shared a wonderful partnership with my husband, and I knew that we were both an ever so small part of a tradition that we have only just begun to learn.
I felt a part of the creek valley, I had shared a wonderful partnership with my husband, and I knew that we were both an ever so small part of a tradition that we have only just begun to learn.
