Leave the Path

On a whim, Emre and I went to Eno River Park yesterday. It’s only about 30 minutes from our home, and it’s really a travesty that we didn’t make it earlier.

The weather was perfect. We passed children swimming in their clothes on the first part of the trails, but as we moved farther from the parking areas, we were practically alone.

The trails meander a few miles over hills and along a lazy river. The Eno river is broad and shallow in places and deep and rocky in others. It was invitingly cool – green and blues, glinting with golden flecks of sunlight.

All around us we witnessed wildlife. Yellow Painted Lady butterflies flitted across the path in front of us. Beaver-chewed stumps poked up into our trail. Lizards dodged our footsteps on the rocks. Wildflowers flourished, including some that I did not recognize.

Emre took this great shot of a Five Line Skink. Apparently they only have blue tails in their youth. Most of the year the adults are brown and light striped, but turn this brilliant red-orange for their mating season.

We walked quietly and paused to follow the rustling of creatures moving in the underbrush. Some of the creatures we saw, and some of them slithered away to stealthily.

[Look for the snake in this photo. Hint: follow a diagonal line from the lower left corner.]

We paused for a while on a smooth table of rock jutting out into the stream. Where the ledge of the rock dipped under the water, we could see dozens of brown snails and river clams. A pair of Canadian geese paddled by, turning up tail to eat whatever it is that grows on the bottom of shallow rivers. We sat for a long while, just watching the water flow over the rocks. I felt really happy, peaceful more so than I have in a long time. There’s a whole world beyond my own trials and concerns, and perhaps they’re less significant than I believe.