Photo of The Month – May 2006
Spring on the River
Picture contributor: Butch Silver
Where ladies in broad-brimmed hats and long lacy dresses used to take canoe rides is now a paradise for snakes, turtles and frogs, a place that is all but forgotten by us transient upright-walking creatures. The permanent residents love the stillness and silence and are happy to be left alone.
Not so long ago the stream was much wider, with farms on the far shore and mill houses nearby, and one could hear the hum of a great mill downstream just around the bend. There were trails through these woods Boy Scouts would follow to their favorite camping spot, and the bravest of lads in a party of noisy swimmers would shinny up leaning trees like this one then gleefully plop into the murky water.
I dream of the river as I remember it. I can still picture the large trees overhanging the river, sandbars, the rapids by the 10-foot hole, climbing Buzzards Roost and laying on the pine needles and just watching the river roll by.