Last weekend I spent Friday morning and early afternoon at my parents’ house before heading to New Jersey. While I currently call State College home, I think I will always feel at home on the edge of Skippack township (in range of the Schwenskville post office). It’s a bit rural and a bit suburban.
I shot a series of pictures for a panorama. This is the view from above my parents’ property. Their house is barely visible on the left side. The area to the right is a field that was used for hay/straw by a sheep farming neighbor (he recently sold his sheep).
Panorama from my parents' house
I took a walk through the woods on the old trails that I used to frequent. They were in a bit of disrepair. I was amazed at the amount of Japanese stiltgrass growing in the woods. It truly is an invasive plant. I don’t remember it being such a problem years ago.
In most cases when I would walk these trails my destination was the Perkiomen Creek. Friday was no exception.
At one point in time I used to get back from work in the late afternoon and run to the water and back. I would generally only do this when hunting season was not open. I’ve never been mistaken for a turkey or a deer while grocery shopping, but running in the woods is not grocery shopping.
When I reached the creek I noticed that Japanese stiltgrass was covering the creek bank. It used to be gravel and large rocks. I also noticed that the water level was very low.
I took a picture of my favorite spot on that stretch of the creek. Once upon a time the smallmouth bass fishing used to be very good in the still water on the right side of the creek.
Perkiomen Creek
I spent many hours over the years wading in the creek with friends, catching fish and talking baseball.
Visiting that site reminded me that I haven’t gone fishing in a decade.
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