BEAUTIFUL DAY

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE I'm just sitting here on the bank of this wilderness lake wondering if the feelings I'm experiencing now are what humans are supposed to feel routinely on any average day in any average human life. The sensation of peace and tranquility simply replaces the tension, cares and worry of everyday living. I wonder why we humans must complicate our lives. It's not only our own lives we complicate but our incessant drive for fame and fortune influences even the natural world negatively. Humans just can't seem to get it right when it comes to interfacing with ecology. If it weren't for humans applying their influences, for one reason or another, on the natural world; there would be no need for human intervention to reverse those influences. Where am I going with this? I guess it's not anything I can change. But there seems to be an awful lot of drugs on the market designed to reduce tension, promote sleep and reduce all types of mental strife. Today; out here; on this wilderness lake; without the sounds of telephones, exhaust noises or Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Neal Bortz "every" pressure point in my body and mind is massaged by this gorgeous natural place. Try it. You might discover less need for prescription drugs. I'm here at Indian Boundary Lake again. My friend Paul and I had made an appointment to meet here today sometime back. I paddled around the lake a couple times, said hello to my otter friend and beached the canoe here on this quiet shore line. Funny thing; when that otter appeared, I put the paddle down and grabbed the camera. I sat in the canoe, camera in hand, scanning the lake. Nothing. I carefully placed the camera in my under-seat storage bag and picked up the paddle. You guessed it. I had started the downward movement of the paddle to the water for the first power stroke when suddenly the otter's head appeared just in front of the paddle. The back of his head was to the boat. It startled me, to say the least. He turned toward me; saw me; and arched his length into a dive and ran into my canoe paddle. If Paul were here he would have had the most amazing kodak moment imaginable. He's supposed to be here but he has a very long drive to reach this lake. Otters are amazing! Fantastic! The otter incident satisfied my otter desires. So it was off to do some fishing. I pulled into a brushy little cut in the bank and quickly caught a largemouth bass. Then another. A short time later I caught a bluegill. Pretty little fish. But now I'm just sitting here on the bank leaning against a tree stump reading a chapter or two of a new book that a friend in Pennsylvania sent me. It's called "Dog On It". Imagine that. It's a story about a down on his luck detective named Bernie and his dog Chet. It's a good read by Spencer Quinn. Oh, don't laugh at my new Tilley River Hat. It may appear odd, especially on my head; but its functional out here in these elements. I said don't laugh. As I mentioned earlier; I paddled around the lake earlier this morning. I wanted to walk the lake trail and paddled to the far side of the lake and beached the canoe. The trail itself is manicured to perfection. It has been graveled the entire length. Obviously the design is to satisify the comfort of the city type tourists who demand ease while walking. Thats nice.. Note the circle around his bill. Well, there's Paul. I can see him paddling over toward where we saw an otter on a previous visit. Time to load all this stuff in the canoe and join him on the water. We paddled to the back side of the lake and beached the boats. We decided to hike around on the bottom of the lake. Yes, I said the bottom. The water has been drawn down and the lake bottom is exposed. It looks like a stump field. It is a stump field. This is a very interesting place. This is a very interesting place. All the brown earth and stumps you see are normally under water. It's interesting walking along on the bottom of a lake. The fish leave tracks. Well, sort of. For instance; the photos below indicate where crappie and or bluegills have fanned the mud in order to sweep out a place to lay eggs. Spawning grounds. Here are the nests high and dried by the sun. Not to worry. The lake will be totally filled by the time they will need their nests again. But look at the depressions! Amazing! This lake has a lot of habitat for fish. It contains countless hundreds of stumps and bottom irregularities that provide shelter, food and that all important function; reproduction. We rinsed the mud off our boots and shoved off to fish on on the way back down the lake. As I was slowly paddling, I looked down at something floating in the water that appeared to be a black piece of tree bark. But it wasn't. It was a turtle. It was a snapping turtle. This little guy was just floating along minding his own business when a "human" hand reached out and plucked him out of the water for inspection. And here the young little fellow is: Paul took the following pictures. He has a wonderful camera that is great for macro photography. The little turtle was gently set upon the water in much the same place where picked up. There is always something fascinating to be found on a lake like this. And by the way; Spring is definitely here. This Eastern Soft shell Tortoise is sunning himself on this snag. All his buddies plopped into the water as I approached. Turtles are wary creatures and difficult to approach. The little heads sticking out of the water are comical. They are ever on the alert. What a relaxing day! This is great fun. This is medicine. Time to go. Hope you liked the entry. The sun's going down quickly. See you next time. And don't laugh at my hat

ABRAMS AND PANTHER REVISITED

click on picture to enlarge Today was sort of special. Today I went canoeing with a friend. Very unusual for me. But I enjoyed the whole experience. How nice it is to talk to someone when I stop! My friend Shaun and I tossed the canoes in the water at the route 129 bridge that crosses Abrams Creek at Chillhowie. There was a mild wind with sudden gusts that would attempt to blow us across the lake at times. Wind also pushes the water in what ever direction it is blowing and sets up currents that move with it. Our canoes were very susceptible to these fast changing currents. One moment Shaun was to my immediate left and the next he was clear against the left bank of the river. I had all I could do to keep my boat running straight up the river too. The slightest wind would catch the side of my light canoe and push it effortlessly in whatever direction it wanted. All I could do is paddle furiously using giant sweep strokes to try and maintain my course. It was great fun! The day was cold. We could see our breaths all morning. It never got to 40 degrees on the water. We paddled up Abrams Creek to the "Y" and went right to Panther Creek. The shore line had rhododendrons and mountain laurel in thick patches sporadically placed in a "hear and there" fashion. It wasn't thick enough to be impenetrable if one decided to hike along the stream. We did pull over once to look at a small mountain stream tumbling into the main channel and noticed either a beaver or an otter swimming up the center of the stream where we had just passed. In our haste to retrieve cameras from the boats and bumbling about like two moose bulls; the critter disappeared. We finally made it to the head waters of Panther and tied off the boats for a walk about. It is spectacular up there. This is truly a wilderness setting out of a book written by James Fennemor Cooper. At any moment the Deer Slayer could walk out of the forest and he would be in his 1753 element. Gorgeous. The sounds of a mountain stream cascading over and around rocks and boulders is mesmerising and finally tumbling into the bigger body of water that makes Panther Creek. This particular spot is a place that is hard to leave. It is splendor personified. Tranquility, peace and gorgeous mountain scenery abound. Thank God it's in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and safe from realty people. We left the headwaters of Panther Creek and quietly paddled downstream to Abrams Creek. Abrams had a fairly healthy flow of water pushing against us, but it had it's calm sections also. The wind seemed to blow against us a bit more as we traveled upstream toward our destination. The water became calm and we were really making time. I could even fool around with the canoe a bit in order to align myself with Shaun to capitalize on photo opportunities. We came up on the headwaters and looked for a place to beach the boats. But Shaun just had to try to paddle up to the creek outlet through some fairly heavy current. I chuckled inside as I watched what I knew was futile work. But it's all fun. He didn't have a chance to beat that water. He was going in the other direction in the picture above; upstream. As you can see he got swept around and pointed downstream. Funny! It was really fun watching him flail about out there. Actually he displayed a fair amount of control over that heavy canoe. Fun to watch! We finally beached the boats and took a break. This place is another gift of Nature. Abrams runs all the way back across the mountain to Cades Cove. Thats well over 20 miles away from this spot as the crow flies. It even runs under ground through a limestone mountain and re emerges again filled with nutrients and minerals that make this water ultra pristine. Well, that is until it meanders through medows over there on the other side of the mountain where large cattle enterprises polute the stream with cattle droppings and silt from farming. The silt is heavy enough to cover the stream bottom and the associated gravel and stones that harbor trout eggs. And yes, you guessed it; trout do not do well in that environment. I doubt I'll be back here in the near future so I drink in the beauty. Even after we shoved off from the shoreline, we just let the current float us downstream. We used our paddles infrequently and then just to rudder the boat on course. It sure was a great day. A grand day. Paul; you missed a good un! Below is a short movie clip of my friend fighting the current while trying to break out of the Abrams Creek channel into the main lake.

SWEET ALMONDINE

Shade; where are you? Shade; Come! Good boy Douglas! Good boy.

SWEET ALMONDINE

click photo to enlarge Shade; where are you? Shade; Come! Good boy Douglas! Good boy. It's a chilly day down on the East Tellico hiking trail. The clouds are gray and the breeze is bringing on the smells of rain. A huge storm is brewing with a severe drop in temperature according to the weather forecasters. They aren't usually correct on their predictions, but this time my senses tell me we're in for a big one. So, I'm hurrying along the lakeside trail with my guys so I can get them home before the rains come. Another hundred yards will bring us out at the truck. But what is this? A small brown shape laying beside the trail; tail wagging, sort of. The tail doesn't seem to know weather to wag entheuastically or not. There is apprehension present in the little dog. Yes, another dog! A brown and white boxer mix dog was laying on its stomach at the edge of the trail watching me as I approached. The dog appeared to be very tired. It's head bobbed up and then down as I came near. My hand placed gently upon it's head calmed the apprehension in the little dog. It was a typical find. No collar or identification, but the mark of a collar was on the hair around the neck. People! What future do they predict for this little dog? Do they care? Even if there wasn't a storm coming; I would have taken the dog home. As it turned out; this was a lucky dog as the storm that finally arrived was huge. Her assimilation into my pack of guys was uneventful and Almondine (yes, a girl) found her place within it. She was taken to the vet for her shots and vaccinations and heartworm tested. Evidently someone cared enough for her to leash train her. She walks at my right side on the leash perfectly. Her body just barely touches my pant leg while we walk and she stays directly beside me. What a delight! I'm used to the one hundred pounds of energy that Shade emits when I walk her. Douglas is better but he can be a handful also. Almondine is a delight. This little dog quickly became a favorite, and I her's. Eventually, when I would go to bed, she would hop up beside me and lie down against me. I didn't mind. Actually, I appreciated the extra warmth. It's cold in this room. This became a nightly ritual. I like to reach out and gently let my finger tips caress her forehead until I hear her take that deep, single inhallation and exhale that indicates she is almost asleep. Sweet little dog. Sweet! She is always at the fence when I come home and she bounds over to me for her ear scratching when I sit down at the computer. Then she lays at my feet. We had bonded very well. It is obvious that she looks to me for everything she has. I would take her with me in the truck often. She sits beside me and leans against my right side, her head against my arm. I would turn and look down at her only to meet her gaze. She always kept her eyes on me. It was obvious that she adored being with me. And I with her. In the evenings I enjoyed her sitting beside my chair allowing me to pet her broad head. She would half close her eyes and become enthralled by my attentions. Sweet, sweet little girl. She isn't what one would call beautiful or pretty. I look beyond that in dogs. She was in need. I came along. And we bonded very tightly. She is my friend and I hers. But when you're activities take you into dog rescue; there is a down side to the process. That downside is that eventually the dog that has been in your care will be adopted. The loving dog that has bonded so tightly to you, and who has trusted you in every way must move on. And so it was with Almondine. As usual I received the call at work that Almondine was adopted and would be leaving within hours. I knew this was going to happen from information imparted to me a couple days earlier. I spent special time with Almondine. When I hung the phone up at work I had to walk outside to wipe the tears from my eyes. I envisioned her as I have always known her and even imagined her fragrance. I could see her eyes plainly in my mind staring at me as if asking whats next dad? Almondine, Almondine sweet Almondine. We are deprived of a last farewell with each other. My heart is sad, my favorite sweet girl. But at the same time, happy for you. For now you have stepped into that part of your life that will offer you a chance at complete happiness forever. You will forget me soon, dear one; as it is the way with dogs. But I shall never, ever in a lifetime forget you precious girl.