I explored a section of the Cooley Kill, a creek too small for kayaking.
I started out on a tributary of the Cooley Kill. Most of the first section was frozen over.
Ice bridges allowed for precarious stream crossings.
When the creek met with the Cooley Kill, the water was no longer icy, begging the question, why is the one creek frozen and the other is not?
I headed upstream in search of the answer.
The stream eventually disappeared into a pipe.
A long pipe.
Eventually I worked my way around through the Van Patten Golf Course where several small ponds perforate the Cooley Kill. The way I see it, the water is warmer because the ponds serve as large insulated storage chambers. Perhaps the nutrient-rich runoff from the fertilized golf course gives rise to biologic activity which would then generate additional warmth.
Cross-country ski tracks indicate that I'm not alone using the golf course for recreational purposes.
People were sledding down a long hill.
I reached a small confluence and chose to leave the Cooley Kill and follow the tributary.
The tributary quickly lead to a small pond.
I followed 20 turkeys as they scampered away. After they tired of my game, one-by-one the birds reluctantly spread their wings and hauled their large mass high up into the trees, perched for a moment, then flew off.
As the stream diminished it's way out of the pond-strewn golf course, the surface became solid ice again.
I tried to find the stream again, but by now it was very small and surrounded by homes. On my way back to the car I came across the Long Kill, and started following it through a Jonesville Cemetery.
Parts of the creek were freshly eroded, reminding me of Irene's recent impact on the area.
Jumbles of logs ward off would-be kayakers.
On the way home, I found Wonder Woman missing a leg. I thought she was pretty much invincible, but I guess not.
It doesn't seem right.
