It was a sunshiny day of perfect temperature, after four inches of rain that caused flooding and havoc in town. A car was swept away in front of Starbucks - that's how bad it was. The roof patches held and though the dogs and cats hated having to go outside - we did - and we didn't shrink or drown.
The county was drawing down the water in the lake to kill the weeds, but there's a lot of water in the creek, the color of black coffee with a little mud mixed in. I'm not sure whether it's because of the rain coming downstream or the dam gates closed.
Took Granny Annie for a walk in her stroller. Clipped my little camera to my cellphone tether (I don't know if it's tethered to me or vice versa - I hate that thing), and off we went. My neighbor lives on the water and the yardman found a water moccasin in one of her trees. So I told Granny we had to watch. We went over to the creek first to look for fishing herons and egrets or anything interesting - nothing but the amount of water in the creek and color of the water.
We took a stroll around the neighborhood. Saw that little stray dog who looks like a big Papillon and called to her, but she disappeared behind my neighbor's house, down into the creek.
Said hello to Jasmine, the half-Shepherd who comes out barking at us whenever we pass, and Buddy, the little Jack Russell belonging to Josh, my 12 year-old friend who is such a good, smart boy, was lying in the sun, waiting for school to be out and Josh to come home.
Went around the corner and didn't see much - a few doves. Someone was shooting in the woods.
I suspect target shooting or sighting in a rifle. We don't fear this. I didn't run for cover in a panic. Neither was Annie afraid. But then, she's a bit deaf.
On the way back, we came across a water turtle - she is young, her plastron so smooth and beautiful. I took her photo. I can promise you she has never been touched by human hands - she was so frightened. She hissed. I took photos. If I can, I always take photos in case I see them again. Her carapace was perfect and unblemished. I'll bet this is the first year she'll lay eggs. What she was doing was scouting for a nest site. I took her with us and released her in the creek across the street. I'll put a photo of her on here later.
We saw a potter wasp and narcissus blooming. so I know we are looking forward to another spring. The world hasn't ended, the polar ice caps are still there, and Phoenix is probably shoveling snow today.
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