Tohickon Creek in April

Tohickon Creek in March! – Photo: L. Weikel

I just realized something: I don’t have any photos taken of my beloved Tohickon Creek in April. At least I don’t have a single photo from April 2020 – and none so far this year, either. (I’ll have to make a point of remedying this situation!) I discovered this when I went looking for a recent photo to use of the creek and the latest one I could find was taken last week, on March 30^th. Feeling resourceful, I thought, “OK, I’ll search my archive and try to find one from last April.” Nope.

The reason, I suspect, is because April is Trout Season in Pennsylvania, and the Tohickon, being stocked with trout, is a tremendous magnet for those who commune with nature in that manner. W’re thus routinely inundated with fisherpeople throughout the month of April.

Sounds of Nature

The reason I went searching for a photo of the Tohickon to begin with was because I wanted to write a little about an interesting article I read about how the sounds of nature soothe our anxious minds and make our lives better.

As you can read for yourself, the sounds of running water and birds are the soothers-in-chief. Not the slightest surprise to me. There are times when I visit my Tohickon, park in the little pull-off close to the bank of the creek, open my car window, and just close my eyes. Listening to her voice is a balm to my soul that’s almost indescribable.

And of course, I only wax rhapsodically about the birds around our house in practically every other post I write. Speaking of which, they’ve been pretty quiet lately – hungry brooding hawks, I suspect, having a somewhat chilling effect on the allure of our feeders. But even when they’re playing it safe and sticking close to their nests, their joyful songs inevitably resume after a short period of silence.

There is one creature, though, who’s lately been basking in the glory of the sounds of nature, the warmth of the sun, the inherent freedom of being outside without a harness, and the comfort of being surrounded by his humans.

Yes, sometimes Spartacus seems to have ‘the’ life.