Beave

In the summertime growing up, our family went to Estes Park, Colorado every summer. There is an area in a valley of Rocky Mountain National Park that consists of a marshland and a river, which was a great place for beavers to live. The park department built a maze of boardwalks in that area, to check out these creatures and their environment. I never saw a single beaver.

Another yearly activity was going to a downtown building that consisted of an indoor shops and restaurants, all opening up to a center courtyard of a waterfall, koi ponds, with a river connecting it all. One spot on a balcony overlooked a statue of a beaver in the water, for children and adults to throw coins on it's tail. Every summer my brother and I tried to toss and keep that damn penny on the tail. If my memory serves me correctly, I hit the tail once in my 19 or so years.

Even this past winter in Marcellus, Eric's dad took us out on a hike to see the beaver dams in a park. John told me stories about how every time he went on this walk, he would see the little guys playing around. Did we see any? Of course not.

I have always thought beavers were cute little guys, being an animal lover. And in all my years, I have never seen a live one.

Until yesterday. I saw a beaver. (okay some of you - stop. bend down. pick up your mind out of the gutter - ha!)

On Monday, my friend Ellen and I drove 90 miles southwest of Chicago to a state park called Starved Rock. That is where we saw the little beaver! He was swimming along in the river along the path, just trucking along. He swam for a long time. I think he was afraid of coming to shore near us.

We had a good time on our three hour hike. The park was established in 1911 along the Illinois river. It consists of sandstone bluffs and canyons with 13 miles of trail. I'm glad we discovered this place, and we're definitely going back when it's a tad warmer out.