During the winter our wood stove is an integral part of our lives. Many of our household activities happen within warming distance of the wood stove. During the summer, however, it is an afterthought. Sometimes I pile papers and clothing on top of the stove. It's just sitting there.
We live about 50 yards from the Ira brook. I never really thought about it until recently, but in some ways it is the mirror image of our wood stove.
Most of the year it's just a very beautiful part of the scenery. Sometimes during a flood it can get a little bit scary. This time of the year, however, when it's dry and hot, it plays more of a utilitarian role within the community. Often on our morning walk we will see deer coming out of the woods to get something to drink out of the creek. Neighbors bring their dogs down to the creek to take a refreshing dip. Speaking of dips, the other day some of our neighbors came down to the creek, and cooled off in an area near our bridge.
Upstream from our house we have some new neighbors. They have done a great job improving their grounds. They have put in gardens, vegetable and flower, where there were none before. The man of the house likes to water his gardens with water out of the creek. Don't know if you can see it from the above photo, but he has diverted some of the water in the creek to move it nearer to his property. He has also stacked some rocks in this spot to make an attractive albeit temporary formation.
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