I decided to take my broom with me on the bus today so that I could sweep those troublesome areas of the boardwalk clean. Carrying a broom around the park is cumbersome, but I have to use the tools that are available to me.
On the way to the bus stop I got hit by a car. Again. That's the fourth time that I've been hit by a car within a half-block radius of my apartment complex. This time I was even carrying a broom with a long while handle, reminiscent of a white cane that a blind person would carry. Heaven help the blind, because that long white broomstick did nothing to deter the driver who plowed into me with her 3,000 pound vehicle. The last time that I got hit by a car I was so furious that smoke must have been coming out of my ears. I told Ron that I couldn't understand why drivers couldn't see pedestrians, but I was carrying a stick or bottle with me from that point on, because the next time someone hit me with their car, I was going to pound the dickens out of their hood and windshield. If they can hit me, I should be able to hit them back. So, today, there I am with a long white broomstick in my hand when yet another driver decides to plow into me and knock me off of my feet. This time my reaction was completely different though. Instead of using my broomstick to hit the offending car back, I simply picked myself up off of the street and burst into tears. The woman who hit me rolled down her window and told me that she was sorry. A woman in another car witnessed the incident and told me that I should call the police and file a complaint and that she'd go to court as a witness in my favor. Instead, I just shook my head and walked away crying, broomstick in hand. A few minutes later, I got on the bus and continued on my way to the park, massaging my bruises.
As I started down the boardwalk, I could see the bald eagle painting wide circles in the sky. Every here and there down the trail I'd run into a person, or persons, who would excitedly ask me if I'd seen the eagle. Yep, I had. Several times I looked up and saw the bald eagle painting circles in the sky, side-by-side with another bird of almost equal size, but without the white head and tail. I didn't have my binoculars with me and my camera was totally incapable of focusing in on moving objects flying way up high in the sky, so I was unable to positively confirm that the other bird was a female, but I'm making that assumption based on the fact that they were flying side-by-side in the same big loops. That makes me do my little Snoopy dance of joy!
Adele Freeland cleared the fallen branches from around the Marckx commemorative rock and planted some beautiful flowers in front of it. It looks so pretty, Adele. Thank you, so much! That brought a big smile to face the minute I saw it. The orchard trail is about half-cleared now. Unfortunately, the trail around the back of Marlake is still blocked. It's been cleared from the bridge up to the fallen willows, but the trail is still impassible from that point on. I see improvements with every passing day. I needn't have toted my broom to the park today, as Becca had gotten back there and blown-off the debris that I was going to sweep. I touched-up the boardwalk with my broom as I walked, but there wasn't much left for me to do. The boardwalk looked wonderful! I'm going to try to remember to tuck my garden-clippers into my pocket the next time I come so that I can trim some of the downed twigs and limbs that are posing as eye-pokers. That reminds me of the old days when I never traveled the trail without my garden-clippers in hand. We used to call these things eye-stabbers and ankle-grabbers.
Instead of the expected mallards, Brooklake was full of American wigeons and ring-necked ducks. When I got to the viewing platform, the ducks were all tucked away in the water-grasses, more or less taking a mid-day snooze. Suddenly, the whole mass of dozing-ducks rose up into the air as one. Most of the group high-tailed it to my left, while some kind of commotion ensued to my right. What on earth was going on over there?
River otters! Two of them had arrived and were having a grand time playing in the lake. River otters are one of those things on my list that I frequently see, but have never been able to get a photograph of, so I felt really honored to have been able to snap this shot of one of the otters emerging into the water-grasses where the ducks were snoozing. I was glad to have gotten this shot, but was really hoping that one day I'd be able to zoom in closer and get a better shot.
A couple of visitors arrived at the Brooklake viewing platform while I was struggling to photograph the otters. Even though there were two otters playing in the lake, it was nearly impossible to photograph them. The male visitor teased me by saying that photographing an otter was much like photographing a whale.....when you see the spout, count one...two....three....and shoot. If you're lucky, you'll get a shot of the whale's tail. Unfortunately, that never worked very well for me. Try as I might, I never managed to photograph a whale's tail. Today, I was more or less facing the same problem with the river otter. By the time my camera was able to focus on an appearing head and would allow me to take the shot, all I wound up with was a picture of a disappearing tail. Boy Howdy, did I get a lot of tail pictures today! I was starting to get really frustrated by the whole ordeal.
Then, one of the river otters poked his head up out of the water and looked right at me. Can you see him? This is probably the closest I'll ever get to an river otter photo. He's peeking up just to the right of center. These two otters were having a grand time cavorting around in Brooklake. They were delightful to watch.
So, even though I had a little bit of difficulty at the start of my trip and hadn't needed to lug my broom along with me after all, I'm glad I went anyway. I saw eagles and otters! You can't beat that with a stick!
Teri I. Lenfest
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