A Carp in the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

Memory Lane

I took an unexpected trip down memory lane this afternoon.

In spite of the overcast gloom and intermittent drizzle, I managed to stop for about half an hour at ‘my spot’ along the Tohickon Creek. When I got out of my car to pay my respects to this beloved body of water, I was surprised to see two significantly large carp treading water in the center of the stream.

As I do occasionally, I’d brought with me a rice cake or two that I crumbled and then blew into it my whispered gratitude and love to the Spirit of the Tohickon. Then I offered the crumbles to the creatures (and the water itself) in appreciation.

When I did this, I noticed that several concentric circles kept rippling the surface of the creek all around the two carps. Only once did I see something black briefly break the surface. Yet clearly there were creatures all around these two carps, which mostly just seemed to face into the headwaters, barely moving.

Two Carp – and Notice the Concentric Circles… – Photo: L. Weikel

A Memory Triggered

All of a sudden I remember visiting the creek about half a mile downstream (as the creek flows), where there used to be a low dam. That’s where I used to take all three of our sons to play. My youngest son and I went there a lot after I picked him up from pre-school.

The memory that was triggered was of one afternoon (almost certainly in late March!) when Sage and I were at ‘the dam.’ He was playing along the concrete wall, in the center of which there was a gap through which water rushed to the next level of the creek, where it splashed along a myriad assortment of rocks making up the creek bed. I was sitting on the concrete wall myself, writing in my journal.

This particular day, Sage and I were delighted to see dozens and dozens of huge (to us) fish swimming upstream! For all the times we’d spent at the Tohickon, we’d never experienced such a sight before. Golden orange fish whose scales reflected the sun and were simply magical to behold! It took us only a moment, though, for our eyes to adjust to what we were really seeing.

That’s when we realized that, in addition to scores of carp swimming up the Tohickon, we also were witnessing scores of snakes feasting upon these fish!

The realization was at once astonishing, horrifying, and fascinating.

And that’s what I believe I was witnessing today – only the flow of the Tohickon, at least at the spot I was at today – was allowing all those snakes to remain under the ‘radar.’

What a memory.

Try as I might, I failed to snag a photo of those dark sea serpents lurking beneath the surface. But I knew they were there.

(T+107)