Robert Alexander

Today's the solstice: mountain ash along the shore lift their white flowerheads like candelabra. When I pass the mouth of Towes Creek, paddling steadily, an eagle flaps outward from the tallest spruce along the shoreline. As the eagle rounds the point ahead of me, a slight movement reveals a deer standing in the shallows. She looks upward for a moment as the eagle passes overhead, then slips back into the trees.