Three Trips to the Crossing

There is another alphabet, 

whispering from every leaf, 

singing from every river, 

shimmering from every sky. 

~ Dejan Stojanovic

Does anyone track their trips? Some friends track their bike rides, runs, states visited, and even travels around the world. It does help our memories and our tall tales. But lately our trips have been short for reasons of time and health.

We've been doing the minimums mostly with a few detours. Ours are the same detours it seems. When we are home we go once or twice a day to check the ponds a few miles away. When we journey to Georgetown we always seem to end up at the crossing. There is always something new to see (as even the neighborhood walk always discloses something different).

An appointment in Georgetown on Tuesday gave us the excuse, as did a meeting on Thursday evening. So DH,  Zelda, and I paused for a few moment in daylight and at dusk. Then my brother surprised me with a call on Saturday. He was in Liberty Hill and could meet for lunch.* I directed him to a favorite lunch spot and then invited him to see the crossing. Of course he wanted to go.

TUESDAY:

The water levels keep dropping. Have I told you the story of the low-water bridge?**

So many dragonflies on the water now.

The spiders were hard at work and webs caught all kinds of flying things, including Mayflies.

Only one Snowy Egret was near enough to attempt to photograph. At the bend further downstream were loads of other birds.

Then the egret went fishing.

It looked very awkward.

I always think of them as a bit more graceful. Perhaps this was just an awkward bird.

We may have startled it. It swooped up and flew in a giant oval upriver beyond the highway bridge and then back around to land well below where it had been fishing. It called the entire time - a harsh, but wonderful sound. [You can just see the lighter colored feet on this bird. They have lovely thing black legs and these feet that look like they belong to another bird.]

Part of the flight.

Perhaps Cowpen Daisy growing on the bank. A giant black bee landed on it (maybe a native carpenter bee).

This tiny groundcover attracts no attention unless someone mows. They took out many of the gourd plants and things we had appreciated earlier. This is Spreading Sida (sida abutifolia)

THURSDAY:

How to complain about algae growth when the river still looks this lovely

I seem to see every snag in the river as a heron.

But there was a Great Blue wading in the shallows.

We do love Williamson County Sunsets.

Buffalo Gourd is a tough old plant - this is some regrowth after mowing.

Elephant Ears or Taro grows on both sides of the river just downstream of the causeway. It is an invasive and I keep thinking we should go pull it out. However, this is private property and I am staying away.

Turkey-tangle Frogfruit. My sister told me this tiny flower was called frogfruit and I have loved knowing it. But then I discovered there are MANY kinds of frogfruit (like there are kinds of Mesquite, Oak, Prickly Pear, Bluebonnets and just about everything.). I keep hoping the need/desire/push for specificity does not take all the joy out of the looking.

My eye is often drawn to damaged trees. These holes  I suspect are from some boring beetle. I regularly see the precise lined up holes created by sapsuckers, but these look too random to me. Some day I would like to bring a chair (umbrella, water, snacks, insect repellent and sunscreen) and do a "dawn to dusk" observation of the crossing.

 SATURDAY:

I could hear my mother's warning about staying out of the sun "in the heat of the day," but that is all the time my brother and I had. So I borrowed a hat. He had cold water and sunscreen.

There was a Green Heron and a Killdeer close to the bridge and RF was able to look downriver to the bend where he could see the other birds gathered. As we talked about the bridge and where family had settled, two Snowy Egrets took to the sky, calling and making that same oval trip beyond the highway bridge and back.

We talked more about birds and then headed down CR 100 to a couple of crossings of Mankins Branch. A Snowy Egret stood just at the first bridge as if it were waiting for us. The second bridge, only one lane, shows how the water has carved into the limestone. Springs flowed into it. I would love to walk those creeks sometime.***

I still must bring my sister to see this place. I love to share it. It's magic.****

Unlike this sister, RF carries binoculars. Mine were in San Angelo with DH.

He was immediately identifying birds - like this green heron to the center left of the photo.

The egrets started their flights.

There is nothing like the sun shining off this plumage.

Bofus (It was a nice hat)

NOTES:

* DH was away - visiting a friend in the hospital way west. There were storms between us and he delayed his return as the storm the night before had been so violent. He did not want to be on the road in them. So I have had to tell him about the trip.

** http://www.williamson-county-historical-commission.org/GEORGETOWN_TEXAS/Mankins_Crossing-Historical_Marker_Williamson_County_Texas.html shares the story of the crossing and the "causeway" bridge (and how the bridge was saved by area residents) Also see - http://www.williamson-county-historical-commission.org/GEORGETOWN_TEXAS/Mankins_crossing_pdf.pdf :

"At 7:30 a.m. on November 8, 1988, a Road and Bridge crew, ordered by a county commissioner, but without Commissioners Court's approval, began to crack up the concrete of the old low water bridge. The first area resident upon the scene parked his pickup truck across the cause­way to stop the destruction. Several dozen more brought on a heated confrontation until a restraining order was signed, by a district judge.

The damage was quickly repaired and a court order demanded court approval to remove the bridge and stated that the bridge could only be closed because of high water in the area."

***But this is all private property and we will have to get owners' permission to wander.

****I knew about this place because of family lore, but I wasn't sure where it was and had no time or inclination to look before retirement provided more time than anyone needs. On a bus trip with Texas Master Naturalists I joined FUM in a nap (I NEVER fall asleep on the bus - it must have been a rough week) and woke up to the words, "This is Mankins Crossing." I looked up to see that we were stopped on the causeway/low-water bridge - in the middle of the crossing. See, magic...it just appeared!

Final Note:  I discovered another blog while looking for the "farmers' standoff" story:  https://outsidemyfrontdoor.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/the-bridges-of-williamson-county/#comment-105 I think I'll be looking at it again.

New on Saturday - someone had dumped tires.