There is a stretch of creek that runs along my parents’ property. If you go by the 10,000 hour rule, I am an expert of this water.
Many days after school and all day every day during summer breaks, my brother, sister, and I would play down at the creek. We caught minnows and crayfish, collected rocks and bug bites.
There was a great blue heron that enjoyed our creek too. It stood on the corner of the bridge over the creek. As we would pull into the driveway returning home, it would often be there in its spot on the bridge. My mom and dad would stop the car and let us watch until it flew way.
One time, we put a garter snake in a bucket and brought it back to the house when my mom called us in for dinner. We forgot about it until the next morning. When we went to release it, we realized she had given birth to millions (ok, likely 30-50, still a lot) of babies!
Another time, my brother and I chased down the sound of a bullfrog for days. We finally cornered him and successfully executed an elaborate plan to catch him! He was so big, his body filled the entire bottom of a five gallon bucket! To this day, that was our prize catch.
As I got older and playing around in the creek was no longer cool, I would still look down at it on my way to school. If the water was too high, I would assume the softball fields were too wet and that we would be practicing inside. I still used the creek to collect water, rock, and leaf samples for a Biology class project.
As I got even older, playing around in the creek became cool again. Or maybe I just grew up enough to care less about what others thought was cool.
I still glance down into the water every time I drive over it going up or down my parents’ driveway. I still volunteer to go get the mail so I can walk over the bridge and look at the creek.
Today, Paco and I went for a “hike” down to the street. He is already logging his hours so he can join the expert status too someday. We threw a couple of big leaves in the creek just to watch the water carry them away.