This is a lovely scene a little less than one block from my house. Yes, it is a cool stream of water winding its way westward down the hill. The banks are covered with wild stems which provide coverage for the native fauna, and in the summer bright blooms of pink punctuate the shades of green. It really is lovely then, and this winter the scene will soften with a covering of frost and deep snow.
I always pass this stream very slowly as I go to and from my house. Sometimes I have seen deer wandering beside the water or lying in the tall grasses. I'm sure this is also where the neighborhood receives the raccoons, skunks, and coyotes that creep around our houses at night. And I fear that someday we might also be visited by a mountain lion preying upon these creatures, since a lion was spotted just seven blocks away last month.
Too bad that this scene is not as natural as it was just half a century ago; today it is actually a drainage ditch. On the other side of the street, this ditch is a wide, concrete-sided canal that is sometimes used by scooters and bicyclists for joy rides. I never look at this side of the street when I drive by. I prefer to let my eyes fool my mind into enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of a secluded mountain stream.
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