The Wind in the Willows

The willow trees banked the length of the back of our property. Only a fence and those huge willow trees stood between us and the country club. Our horses used that area to graze on the grass on those hot summer days. I'm sure the golfers enjoyed peaking through and finding our four horses often stopping by to watch their games and pay a hello.

Our home was a sanctuary to wildlife from a variety of birds that drew in bird watchers from far away. We had deer, moose, bald eagles, blue herons, beavers, pheasants, turkeys, raccoons, turtles, fox, porcupines, and rarely seen snakes as they loved to hide themselves. But the prize of my father's good fortune were two very different animals, the first Canadian geese, or as he called them HONKERS. The second favorite, his rainbow trout.

The man who owned our property before my father had been digging a well near the willow tree lined area of the property and struck the Aquafor. The water exploded out like a geyser and created an aquamarine blue pool that never ended its feeding into a creek, that turned into a large pond, that fed into the Spokane river that connected on the property. Our home quite literally was sitting on a peninsula of land if you could imagine that. Between the Spokane river and our home lay on the other side a place called Rattlesnake ridge. My Father owned ninety acres on that side as well. It was paradise.

A place that so few could imagine growing up in and now as my father sold most of the land to the state of Washington it will never be built on by greedy property investors, but instead maintained for the beauty and the wildlife and open to the public to walk and explore. He loved the pacific northwest and wanted others to always appreciate the great beauty of the land and nature.

Recently I saw a video that members of the Spokane Native American tribal community were celebrating the release of a variety of salmon back into the Spokane river on the property my father sold. During the video they spoke of the Aquafor that lead into the river provided the perfect quality of water they needed for the salmon to successfully thrive. I couldn't help but laugh about that Aquafor pond.

That pond has many memories attached to it for me. There was a small dock built by my father that served a perfect place to lay a towel out and read and listen to those nearby willow trees blowing in the wind. The water dipped off into the creak so the sound of the running water was oh so pleasant on summer days. One of the more funny and adventurous events that often took place at that dock was during my teenage years. I would often dare my friends to jump into it because it was FREEZING. I hold the record for eight minutes. When you would come out of that water your entire body would be bright red. But oh my goodness did it feel great on a hot summer day.

Another favorite memory of that pond leads me back to the rainbow trout. You see my father was an enthusiastic fisherman. He grew up fishing in Idaho, and adored it. He took us to Sitka, Alaska fishing the wild ocean and would share salmon with friends and neighbors. He even served salmon at my wedding from one of his trips.

The wonderful thing about my father is he replaced what he took which so few of us can say that we do in our lives. However he did.

He absolutely loved hunting geese in Idaho. On our property in Spokane, he fed the geese. He fed them the finest corn and told me that he would make generations of geese healthier for the food he provided them. He also purchased hundreds of baby turkeys, ducks, geese, and pheasants and released them into the wild of our property for them to flourish and live. He fed the deer apples in the summer and laid out salt blocks for the wildlife to enjoy. In the winter he often provided hay for animals in need. Heck, he even made sure there was enough cat food on our back porch for all the raccoons that would often come to our back window at dinner time, wash their hands in the cat's water bowl, and proceed to feast on the cat food. He would just shake his head and laugh at them.

One early evening, he said, "Kacie get in my truck. I'm taking you somewhere special." Sure enough he drove me to a local fish hatchery. He then explained that a huge truck would follow us to the Aquafor pond on the property and he would release thousands of baby rainbow trout to replenish the dwindling Spokane river. The Aquafor provided the cool water they needed and he would feed them to get them healthy and start their lives.

I thought he was the coolest dad there ever was. Sure enough that night, the breeze whispering through those willow branches made them dance along to the joy of watching thousands, I mean thousands of babies released happily into that gorgeous aquamarine colored pond. If you still travel to rattlesnake ridge and are lucky enough to fish in the Spokane river, you might catch one of the biggest rainbow trout of your life, and if you do you can thank my father for that.

I still think of those lovely willow trees, I think about my home back in Spokane, Washington almost every day. My husband and I were married there on that property, and even though both my parents have passed away, I know in my heart my Dad did something special. He preserved a place for people and God's creatures to enjoy for forever.

Those lessons from my Father I still carry with me today. Now, living in Chattanooga, Tennessee we dream of having a property much like my Mom and Dad's that serves nature the way he did. For now in out small yard space, we have a thriving garden that we give back to all out neighbors. In our yard we have a bird bath that is constantly visited by the local birds such as cardinals, blue birds, and tree swallows to name a few. We have busy hummingbird feeders, and many bird feeders that never go empty.

We even built a butterfly garden for the butterflies and bees to enjoy that's filled with their favorite flower varieties. Our daughter loves to raise caterpillars and release the butterflies when they are ready back into the wild wear they can thrive and provide generations of butterflies for the future to enjoy as much as we do. My hope is that like me, one day our daughter will carry these lessons for her family and maybe someday soon we can buy a property and plant some willow trees of our own.