Being and reverence

It was hot. Sweetgums, paulownia, sassafras, oaks, tuliptrees, and a red blackberry ripe enough to eat. Butterflies, at least four different species. A neon green dragonfly. Robins, jays, catbirds, and immature goldfinch that just barely escaped our footfall and flew ... inches away, as if they had never seen their most fearsome enemy before. The dead red-tailed hawk, it’s talons and beak still dangerously curved. The river lapped at the shore, just a few feet away from the aptly named Shore Trail. River glass and water chestnut pods on the shore, which was dark purplish sand or shingle.