Changing Plans

West Neck Creek Sunrise

Some mornings, my plans go awry - it’s just what happens. When I’m going, I usually decide the night before where on the North Landing River I want to be at sunrise. Most often, my goal is to be in place deep in some tributary creek when the light from the rising sun begins to paint the sky and reveal the secrets in the marshes and swamps. More often than not, I follow through with what I had intended, unless I don’t. My well laid plans are really more like suggestions to myself, not unchangeable and quickly modified in the faint predawn light. Like today. Traveling north on the river, I looked to my right and cut the engine. My plans had changed. 

At the mouth of West Neck Creek where it unites with the North Landing, I drift. It’s just so quiet. The early morning mist, clammy and featureless, slips along the creek and sinks slowly back into the swamps as the sun creeps skyward. A muskrat glides silently through the water against the far bank. The marsh grasses rustle softly in the gentle Virginia breeze. If you lean in and listen closely, you might hear the angels singing.

Schedule your ecotour with Moore To See Photo Expeditions to explore this environmental wonderland.