It’s pretty easy to do nothing at the river. Everyone should cultivate an attitude of no expectations while visiting a river, just enjoy the site and be in the moment.
This is from 2013. Scroll down to see 2009.
Just being in the river or near the river can give a nice sensory experience. Or like my son did yesterday, you can “see what you can see” — basically you take a self-directed scavenger hunt. Many times we’ll see and then go home with clam shells, snail shells, fossils, interesting rocks, driftwood, and river glass.
Same kid, different year.
I followed Mr. TellBlast upstream beyond a snag and found some different things.
I was hoping to see different things, too, with the river being very low and getting to walk nearer to the center of the riverbed than I have in the past.
I didn’t know this sandbar existed because it’s normally underwater or too far away to wade here.
I usually wear a pair of “water sandals;” on this day, two of us wore waterproof hiking boots. I’ve also worn regular shoes and taken them off, tied them by the laces, and carried them so that I could put them on again if I needed. My method this weekend was to spot “abnormally regular” looking shapes in the sand — things that look too perfectly round to be natural.
Ring and lid
I found a lid downstream, then walked 200 yards and found the ring to go with it. They were mostly buried, but I saw enough to have a hunch that they were manufactured. They were.
I also spotted some rocks stuck inside a jug.
It was a funnel in the flow. I washed out all the debris that I could.
The rock is stuck!
The last perfectly round items I found was an old can of Hamm’s — I remember the jingle, “Hamm’s, the beer refreshing — Hamm’s”
