The individual metal lettering on a plank of wood forms the words: Post No Other Bills – or did it say signs? – at the intersection of Route 10 and the juncture to 176 near Green Hills. The Pennsylvania department of transportation seeks a clutter-free road sign area.
I am on my way to walk at French Creek, around the lake, on this glittery sunny day. The walk turns up no herons, just some geese that go bottom up to dive for goodies in the water, as a woman dressed for the office escapes for a lunchtime picnic and sits at a table and bench designed for that purpose. The lake is unique among other walks along the water in the county because of the presence of beaver lodges and the evidence of extensive rodent incisor activity that leaves abbreviated and carved tree stumps, bringing the deciduous trees to their cypress knees. The water in the meandering woodland streams looks clear and refreshing, a temptation to roll up one’s pant legs and wade, but isn’t it just a little too cool for that?
The sound of a chain saw cuts into the peace and quiet and a man walks a good dog near the dam breast and spillway while I sit on a Moore-like rock to roll up my pants legs to catch some sun and breeze on my legs. An enormous ancient pine and a big old oak rise like towers next to the smaller tree types. A 24-hour vending machine at the public bathrooms says Let’s Go Fishin’ .
The woman dressed for business is gone. A man and a woman sit at the picnic bench. They have the right idea. They have sandwiches. The sun is strong, the temperature is kind and the air is stimulating. You would have it no other way.
