Swans, Snakes, Turtles, Oh My!

Today was such a beautiful day.  Hubby and I went biking.  There's a bike route known as the Upper Charles Trail.  We rode the length and stopped to picnic.  I took a couple of photos, too.  Since most of the area schools started today, only adults used the path.  There were plenty of dog walkers, some runners, a couple of roller bladers, and other bikers like us.

We had a picnic on Lake Louisa.  There was a family there fishing.  The kids were toddlers and their little tackle boxes were so cute.  I remember fishing as a child their age, myself.  My sister use to take me to the Spicket River.  We never caught anything because we never used bait.  She took a stick, tied a string to it.  On the end of the string, she tied a large safety pin.  I don't know why I never questioned her about it.  Kids nowadays are a lot smarter than I was, that's for sure.

I stopped to take a picture of a couple of swans and had a fright.  I tiptoed as quietly as I could across mud, roots, sticks, and leaves, down to the water's edge.  Then just as I was positioning myself to focus my camera, something darted across the lower part of my vision.  I inhaled a gasp.  A big, thick, water snake was coming at me.

I looked again.  It was awfully thick--the size of an arm.  The colors were tan, brown, and back.  What kind of water snake is that?  I noticed how long it was, and then I notice that it branched off.

It was a branch--more of a small log.  And all around it were small turtles sunning themselves.  I think I frightened some of the turtles, and their jumping off caused the movement that caught my eye.  Whew!

Let's pray for more days like this.  Amen.