Great Blue Heron, photo by Trudy Snope
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I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. – E.B. White
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In the water in Tidewater Lock on mile 1 of the C&O Canal, stands a Great Blue Huron with a fish hanging from its mouth. Biking along the canal, I stop and marvel – how will that majestic bird with a long thin next neck swallow the Bluegill?
Before I can pull my phone from my pocket for a photo - the Heron quickly flicks its head and catches the fish so that it aligns with its throat. Turning its head upward and with another flick, the fish disappears. The bird remains still with head and neck stretched toward the sky. The fish appears in the Heron’s neck in the fuzzy picture below.
Across the canal, a woman shrugs with her palms outstretched as if to say, “How lucky can we get!”
My summer vacation plan is to bike the towpath of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park (184 miles) in a series of one-day rides.
So begins the first leg of my journey – in Georgetown, DC in the chaos of rush hour, a beautiful bird surrounded by a hiker and a biker is having breakfast. I learned to respect the seniority of nature.
At mile 20, I encounter another Heron (or the same!?). I slow the bike to stop for another photo - I am too close and the bird takes flight. Seeing the Heron take flight is breathtaking. A four-foot tall bird squats and launches, spreading a 6-foot wingspan in long and slow wingbeats.
The bird lands 100 feet up the towpath and we repeat the picture ritual two more times. No picture - I cannot outwit nature.
Thanks to Trudy Snope for answering the call for a beautiful photo of the Great Blue Heron (above). How about you, what is your summer vacation memory, experience, or adventure? Share a story!
For How I Spent Last Year's Summer Vacation click How I Spent My Summer Vacation - 2016 and Trail Mix.
