Swimming with the big fish and Cumberland FallsApr 6, 2009
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Wolf Creek Dam from on top
The redbuds are in full bloom - here's a closeup
Betsy at Cumberland Fall SP - looks good, doesn't she?
| Ah, yes! You have found me writing our journal entry while it rains yet another day. And it follows the tornado watch and severs thunder storm warning. And, yes, it’s windy, too. I guess we won’t have a campfire tonight. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that this rain will be turning to snow as the temperature drops to 27 degrees tonight. And more tomorrow. Welcome to April in Kentucky! Things are really picking up here at the hatchery. Schools are on spring break, folks are camping, and on these rainy days they come to see the fish and the exhibit hall here at the hatchery. Several days we have had in excess of 275 folks come to the visitor center. We had two school groups this week – one a group of 48 8th graders who were actually very pleasant to have, and another group of 18 4th graders. I might as well put this in writing because if I don’t you will surely hear it from Betsy. On the 4th grader tour, I had just gotten thru the incubator building and was going to show the kids the fish runway with our larger fish. The kids were anxious to feed them. So that they wouldn’t bunch up, I asked them to form a spread out line. I then backed up to the runway to bring them forward. Well, I thought I had a bit more room than I actually did and went over the edge into 30 inches of 49 degree water. I could actually feel the fish bumping into me, trying to help me up. When I finally got to my feet and everyone realized that I was OK, they went into an uncontrolled fit of laughter. The intern who was with me actually had to sit down on the asphalt – she said she almost wet her pants, she was laughing so hard. She finished taking the kids around the runways as I went to change into some dry clothing. When I got back, I told the kids that that was something that I didn’t do for every group, just for them. I was totally immersed in my job. Too bad someone didn’t catch it on a camera. On one of our days off, we went to see the Creelsboro Natural Arch (see picture) also called The Rock House, and also to a place called 76 Falls. These were not as spectacular as some other similar places but still nice to see. I picked up some pieces of fossilized shells from the driveway at the arch as well as some agates (rocks). We also visited Cumberland Falls State Park. That was impressive simply for the sheer volume and speed of water. It was also depressingly impressive about the amount of litter collecting in the backwater area next to the bottom of the falls – there were tires, propane tanks, and more than 50,000 plastic bottles there. A cleanup is scheduled in May when the river level is down – it’s not safe at today’s level. Also made a trip to Berea, KY, a nice college town but, and more importantly, they had a quilt shop that Betsy had to go see. After that we drove to Corbin, KY, where Colonel Wiley Sanders open his first café – read that as Kentucky Fried Chicken. And yes, we had some. BTW, my cost per fish is now down to $1.33. If the weather ever gets nice, I’ll work on getting it down to less than a dollar. Talk to you later, Rick, Betsy, and Laptop |
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