Tag: beaver

Errandonnee No. 7: Beaver, Balls, and Blossoms

Good thing I saw some blossoms today because a blog title “Beaver and Balls” would have attracted a new readership.

On the way to work, I saw a beaver swimming near the beaver bridge (why do you think I call it that) just north of Slaters Lane on the MVT.

It was nice to have a tailwind too. Warm air would be coming on southerly breezes, but it wasn’t here yet.

In the evening I shed a few layers and headed for some cherry blossom therapy. The blooms are clearly below normal peak but they are still a tonic for what ails your weary Friday evening mind. I rode to Hains Point and picked up a golf ball that had settled along the roadside, far from any fairway that I could see. Having contributed a few dozen golf balls to the woods and water features of golf courses back home in my youth, I felt justified in pocketing this beauty.

IMG_0504

Miles: 5 (on top of 29 1/2 getting to and from work)

Category: Non-store Errand.

Observation: When the blossoms are perfect, you could go snow blind walking around the Tidal Basin. I feel for anyone who comes to DC for the first time to see the cherry blossoms like this. Come back next year. They’ll be much better. Whenever you go, try to get to the Tidal Basin about 30 minutes after sunrise. The low angle of the light makes for great pictures. And the crowds are smaller.

Leave It to Beaver – Not

Every once in a while I see critters on the way to or from work on my bike commute. Sometimes I don’t see the critters themselves but I see signs of their presence. Such was the case a few days ago when I saw this small willow tree with a big chunk gnawed out of it. The tree was between the Memorial and Theodore Cleaver, I mean Roosevelt, Bridges.

img_0325

A few days later the job was complete.

img_0337

Sadly, the beaver’s hard work was undone by the National Park Service. A crew came by this morning and took the felled tree away.  It’s hard out there for a beaver.