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Down to the river though I know the river is dry

Posted on | July 3, 2006 | 3 Comments

Blueberry Waffle Sock went trekking with us yesterday, canoeing on the Little Cahaba River in Bibb County, Alabama.  Now, this sock is mateless, and while I was tempted to cast on #2 on the drive down, parental love intervened and I instead cast on for the greenest pair of socks in the history of sockblogdom.  Why?  That’s the yarn my son picked out, green is his favorite color, so that’s what’s on the needles.  One set of needles, anyway.  ;o)  This is on the other:

   Diagonal rib – Tropical Sunrise colorway

Back to Blueberry.  He visited with a lonely Catalpa worm, happily munching a Catalpa leaf on a nearly denuded Catalpa tree (how many times can I say Catalpa?!?)  Catalpa worms are good fishing bait, or so I hear. 

 

After a harrowing 4′ drop (Blueberry was safe in the drybag), he sunned himself on a rock at Jacuzzi Falls.  He watched the turtles fishing downstream and the redtail hawks soaring overhead.  It was very peaceful and relaxing.

 

   

He made friends with this huge dragonfly, which was not skiddish at all. 

 

Look at those eyes!  *shudder*

I saw a very large snake swimming by the bank, but since I was alone in the canoe, I didn’t dare get very close nor did I have time to get out the camera.  It was either one of these:

or one of these: 

I could clearly see from 20 feet away that its head was triangular.  Based on its behavior (it knew I was there, it was watching me as much as I was watching it and it swam along the bank, going upstream as I paddled back, protecting its territory I suppose) I’m guessing it was a mocassin. 

We also saw a beautiful blue heron, but again, had to focus on not hitting rocks and couldn’t grab my camera in time.  The water level was very low; unlike our neighbors to the north, Alabama has had little rain of late.  When the water is low, you’ve got to be very careful or you’ll hit every rock in the river.  I counted 189 rocks that I’d hit by mid-trip. 

I caught one of these: 

 

These little bugs are really fast and hard to catch.  They squirm a lot and tickle your palm, but they smell like strawberry ice cream!  Seriously!  Which makes it worth the trouble of catching them.  Plus, it’s fun.

I think I also saw a bald eagle, it was a large darkish brown bird and I know I saw a flash of white as it flew away.  Again with the camera thing – can’t canoe properly and take pictures at the same time.  I’d like someone to create a Camera Headband.  You’d wear it on your head like a headband, and the camera lens would fit over one eye.  Winking would make it take a picture.  A la Mad Eye Moonie. 

Whatcha think?

 

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