This morning there was lots of flooding in the lowland creeks as the snow
melted under almost 2 inches of pounding rain overnight. Of course I put on
my wets and splashed down to our little creek, which is now singing loudly.
As I stood on the bridge over the creek something yellow caught my eye, it
was a rubber ducky, bobbing merrily and quickly downstream. I watched it
until it went out of view and turned to leave only to find a mallard
standing on the bank opposite me. This is pretty far into the woods and I
was surprised to see a duck this far downstream. I stood quietly and after
a couple minutes the duck jumped into the frothy water and continued its
ride. I stood for a long time wondering what might appear next but nothing
further came downstream.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer
Snohomish County, WA
You can find some of my collected writings at
http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/rsandelin/NWnature/NWNature.htm