After Days Of Deluge The Texas Rain Has Stopped

Today is Saturday. It is Day 4. Or is it 5? Of gray sky and cold. This morning the rain finally stopped.

Making it possible to venture outside without getting too wet. So, I put on several layers and pulled my worn out gray stocking cap over my ears and set out into the bracing cold.

Village Creek Historical Natural Area or Natural Historic Area, I never remember the name right, seemed like the place to go. If the creek had not flooded enough to close the park I figured it would be moving a lot of water.

But, to my surprise, the creek had not even gotten high enough to flood over the bridges. Another surprise, surprising because I think I come to this park fairly frequently, but it could easily be a month since I've been there, regardless of how long it's been since I've been there, it has been long enough for Arlington to build a new viewing platform, replacing the old one that had been destroyed by brutal Mother Nature. The new platform looks built to last awhile.

It was while on the old platform that I saw one of the most disturbing things I've seen since I've been in Texas. I was pedaling my bike. I saw a couple guys on the platform intensely looking at something in the water. So, I stopped to ask what they were looking at. They pointed to a large herd of Water Moccasins swimming amongst the turtles.

That may have been my first Texas snake sighting. As the years of my exile in Texas have grown in number, along with my visits to this park, I've seen Copperheads, Rattlesnakes and my one and only Garfish. The Garfish is by far the most disturbing thing I've seen in Texas.

As you can see in the first picture above, it is starting to get green here. The green along the trail in Village Creek Park today reminded me of being in a Washington Rain Forest, the combo of the fresh green and everything being wet.

I had one moment of an optimistic feeling that blue skies may one day return when the clouds opened up for a second or two, letting me have a brief glance at what the sky in Texas used to look like.

I've blogged about Village Creek before. It's a fascinating story that's part of American and Texan History.