Wednesday, December 15, 2016 9:30 am 53 degrees
Each time I visit the bridge, I walk from a nearby parking in the Fair Oaks Village. I listen, I look, I get a “feel” for the morning. Today everything is quiet. Not a single crow from the chickens. No cars driving on the street. Not a single person walking through the Village. I walk downhill to the bridge entrance and see grass as green as emeralds.
Several months have passed since the landscape was so green. I wonder if I will see fairies dancing or leaping from the grasses.
As I approach Fair Oaks Bridge, the first sound I hear is the constant roar of traffic from Sunrise Blvd. bridge crossing carried in the wind. Then I hear a group of Canada Geese loudly honking as they fly. The geese remain out of sight and then all is quiet once more. The bridge deck is dark with moisture of the morning. Spider webs all washed away from the rain.
A few people walk. I hear a runner’s footsteps, feeling the vibrations before he comes into view. Next is the whir of bicycle tires. After several days of rain, the river is swollen with water rising the banks at least a foot or more on both sides. Folsom Dam is releasing water and the water flows in ripples quickly downstream toward Sacramento. The river is a muddy green.
The bridge rails hosting spider webs are wiped clean. Ducks are out swimming. Bufflehead ducks float in the middle of the river as if they are sleeping. They swim alone. One seagull sits among them.
Salmon run is nearing its end. A very busy six weeks in November and December. They will return again at the same time next year. Steelhead will begin arriving soon, in far fewer numbers.
I take several photos of the Bufflehead ducks – dressed in their “duck tuxedos.” I capture one with a seagull just as it rises out of the water to fly away. Pure luck. I had the camera aimed and pressed the button when the seagull suddenly lifted out of the water at the same time. The gull flies 100 yards to east and settles back down in the water.
All is quiet. I was told by a cyclist that the river will be higher tomorrow when more water is released from Folsom Dam.
What began as a very foggy morning is now a morning of total overcast and stillness. Very few people are out. I hear Canada Geese flying in from the east. I do not see them.. One seagull calls out to anyone who will listen. One decaying salmon lies at the end of the boat launch ramp.