I was hoping an eagle would soar across the sky between the tall oaks on the right and my left. I could then declare it the day of the eagle. I heard the call of the crow, but I wanted to see crows in a remarkable scene before I declared it the day of the crow. I remember crows filling the tree branches of the law quad in Ann Arbor in 1995, so I was looking for some spectacular crow activity before dedicating an entire day to the crow. It's disappointing to bike fifty minutes into work and not see one animal in fabulous, amazing circumstances. The leaping of a fish from the waters of Mona Lake would have been enough.
I spotted three small sassafras saplings to the right, and I decided to dedicate the day to them. Back in the 1970s, I was so thrilled when I discovered a thicket of sassafras on our dirt road, growing out of a hedgerow. I was about six or seven, and I boiled the roots in hot water trying to make tea. It wasn't one of my better experiments. When I went to summer camp around Shelby, it was delightful to discover entire forests of sassafras. I started chewing the green twigs, which had a creamy taste to them. When I worked at the nuclear power plant, Cook Nuclear, I worked in a compound surrounded by sassafras forests.
This morning's ride took only fifty minutes. It takes fifteen to twenty minutes by car. I was annoyed by the number of sprinklers squirting streams of water over the sidewalk or half the road. I was sprayed at least three times, and I hope the city water supply provided water for all three lawns. It's hard enough to avoid traffic; it's extra work to avoid traffic and sprays of water too.
Sassafras
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