My dirt road is changing and I can say I have mixed feelings about change out here. As I walked the road a couple of weeks ago I stopped as I always do to admire the changing scenery around the beaver pond. I spied two heads in the water. Diving under and coming back up. And I realized they were not beavers but otters. Beavers are industrious and swim with a purpose. They have places to go and things to do. Otters frolic. They dive, they surface, they enjoy the water. They will get where they need to be when they get there. I enjoyed watching the two for awhile and I continued on my way and they continued on theirs.
It wasn't till about a week later I realized the beavers were gone. I don't know if the flooding from tropical storm Irene forced them to seek new areas to dam or if the pond they lived in was no longer viable or if they had been hunted and killed. All I know is when I walk by the pond now the dam they worked so hard and so constantly on is changing. Water is spilling across the top. I know if the beavers were here they would make adjustments, allowing the water to go down the spillway they have created but never just across the top.
It's sad. That pond has been here since my husband and I bought our property almost 32 years ago. It is part of my life here. To be able to watch the flight of a great blue Heron as it comes and goes between the pond and the creek. To see and hear the Canadian geese as they announce their arrival each spring. To know that moose, deer and a variety of wildlife are sustained by that pond and the woods that surround it. That is what makes it special.
I have been given a great blessing by being able to live on a dirt road in Vermont. One that I would have never imagined when I was young. I have been able to stand in the center of a vortex and watch the world spin around me and yet be able to look down and see that familiar dirt road under my feet and know that I am truly home.
I don't know where the beavers went. I don't know if they will be back or if a new family will come to take their place and restore the dam. I do know sometimes we are given great gifts and that something as simple as a beaver pond can be a great gift.
I could ramble on about the beauty I have seen there or the many mosquitoes that have swarmed me as I stood foolishly looking at that scenery. But instead I will just paraphrase the old line about not knowing what you have till it's gone. Take time to take a breath and enjoy the scenery. We only get to do this once. And then the dam breaks and its all gone.
It wasn't till about a week later I realized the beavers were gone. I don't know if the flooding from tropical storm Irene forced them to seek new areas to dam or if the pond they lived in was no longer viable or if they had been hunted and killed. All I know is when I walk by the pond now the dam they worked so hard and so constantly on is changing. Water is spilling across the top. I know if the beavers were here they would make adjustments, allowing the water to go down the spillway they have created but never just across the top.
It's sad. That pond has been here since my husband and I bought our property almost 32 years ago. It is part of my life here. To be able to watch the flight of a great blue Heron as it comes and goes between the pond and the creek. To see and hear the Canadian geese as they announce their arrival each spring. To know that moose, deer and a variety of wildlife are sustained by that pond and the woods that surround it. That is what makes it special.
I have been given a great blessing by being able to live on a dirt road in Vermont. One that I would have never imagined when I was young. I have been able to stand in the center of a vortex and watch the world spin around me and yet be able to look down and see that familiar dirt road under my feet and know that I am truly home.
I don't know where the beavers went. I don't know if they will be back or if a new family will come to take their place and restore the dam. I do know sometimes we are given great gifts and that something as simple as a beaver pond can be a great gift.
I could ramble on about the beauty I have seen there or the many mosquitoes that have swarmed me as I stood foolishly looking at that scenery. But instead I will just paraphrase the old line about not knowing what you have till it's gone. Take time to take a breath and enjoy the scenery. We only get to do this once. And then the dam breaks and its all gone.
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