October Rain

Around nine in the morning, yesterday, the view from the bridge, above, showed foam remnants outnumbering leaves on the eastward moving surface.  Light rain fell and wind ruffled the water as it approached the river's curve ahead.  This morning, Sunday, as I walked Jack, our Australian Shepherd mix, around 7:30 a.m., more water flowed than the day before, as rain fell much of Saturday.  The higher water submerged a length of the branch I have used to judge the Ottauquechee's level.  An accelerated current, with more volume, had overwhelmed the leaves, what had seemed like coracles playing in the sunlight were now flowing beneath the surface, ghostly shapes tumbling.

At five this evening, rubbing shoulders with a scrum of tourists, Jack and I were back on the bridge.  The marker branch showed several inches of wet surface, revealing how high the water came which had now receded.  This picture shows more sky than river.  It was the kind of evening when even Woodstock residents could not stay away from the covered bridge.  Locals mixed with bus-borne visitors, watching the river connect with all that surrounded it.