June 3: Morning drive

A couple of years ago, a construction project along my usual route to work forced me to find another way. The alternate route I discovered passes through a neighborhood I've since been advised never to stop the car in. The construction project has long since been finished, but I haven't changed back to my old, reportedly safer, route. I like the new one because it also passes through an urban natural area. By far more compelling than the condition of the neighborhood are a broad, shallow creek, which during storms collects the runoff from the whole southern part of the city and swells to twenty times its usual size; the tall wading birds that visit it; the way the marsh grasses silhouette black against the silver surface of the water; the power line above the creek where sometimes kingfishers, sometimes a hawk perch to watch for prey; and the woods that shade the road from the morning sun's glare, except for a few beams shafting through the summer haze. I saw the hawk again this morning, only a few yards from my car, and it reminded me that this is definitely the way I'd rather start my workday.

I'm also glad the city didn't decide that a better way to collect and direct rainwater runoff was to build a massive system of concrete-lined canals. The natural way is beautiful, provides a place for birds and people to go fishing, and does the job it has always done.