Chainsaws and Blackbirds Do Not Sing the Same Song

Today we walked the dirt path along the river southeast of the new bridge. It was the first time I’ve walked that section since they began the construction of the bridge. Although the path is the same (once you get past the major bike/walkway intersection) I had a difficult time focusing on and completely enjoying the woodland around me; on the opposite side of the river backhoes, and bulldozers were parked where they had just finished bulldozing down and scooping into huge piles all of the trees and brush that formed the peaceful riverside ecosystem. The bulldozers had cleared the land right up to the edge of the river – not leaving 12 inches in its natural state. And I seethed inside: How did “they” get permits to do this horrible thing! Didn’t “they” have to do an environmental impact study? And then I questioned myself: Maybe if you’d been more aware, and of the type, you might have gotten up an awareness group to try to keep this development at least 100 feet back from the banks of the river. Who knows, maybe “they” will turn it into a beautiful walkway and it might be better than ever. Maybe I should wait to cast bitter judgments. In ten years I probably won’t care anyway.
But it was a beautiful day for walking: 40 degrees with no wind, clouds that were dappled soft gray. The red-winged blackbirds were singing their raspy songs; juncos were flitting along the river’s edge; we heard a kingfisher downstream; Canada geese lounged in the open areas where the bulldozers hadn’t been; a little ruby-crowned kinglet hopped on the branches of a nearby bush; a northern flicker flew into the top of the tree we passed under; in the heron rookery at least a dozen great-blue herons perched in their treetop stick nests; a red-tailed hawk sat on the limb of a distant tree; two American kestrels perched high up; and in the river dozens of mallard ducks bobbed upside down; and two common mergansers sat on a rock with their heads tucked back – dozing.
If tomorrow is a day like today, we’ll start at the bridge and walk the other direction.