Well, it’s not as if the Ecorse Creek at Council Point Park is extraordinarily special.  Most months of the year, it is a murky-looking color of brown.  This body of water is certainly not worthy of reflection like Walden Pond was to Thoreau.  It is merely a portion of the 18-mile-long Ecorse River and is a habitat for many water fowl who live there.

On one side of the Creek is Council Point Park, and, on the opposite side, in some places it borders homes in Wyandotte, and other portions butt up against a wooded area.  There is no bridge to access the other side.

Of significance, is that Council Point Park is right in the middle of our city, and Lincoln Park is hardly a rural area.

When I first began walking at the Park in 2013, I was told tales of coyotes, fox and deer that lived across the Creek in the densely wooded area, and that they would be easy to spot in Winter with all the bare brush and trees and snowy backdrop.  Maybe they were tall tales, because each Winter I crane my neck to catch a glimpse of these critters, but I’ve never seen any.

When I was at the Park yesterday, (on what I termed “Frosty Fingers Friday”), I took several pictures of the ice-covered Creek.  Some portions were solid ice, with huge fallen trees frozen in place, smack dab in the middle of the Creek.

In other portions, you could see the water through the thin ice.

Upon examining the photos I took yesterday, I wondered anew if some of the critters yonder across the Creek would ever attempt to cross to the Park side by walking on the ice?  Hmmm.  Who knows what might be lurking in the brush, besides that roly-poly gopher, as I amble along on my walk?

I needn’t have wondered (or worried) for long, since the 51-degree temps Friday afternoon caused a lot of the ice to dissolve and float down the center of the Creek in the form of mini ice floes.  The mallards were mixing and mingling in the water as chunks of ice drifted past them.  I saw a heron standing on one thin leg, in a stork-like pose, atop a partially submerged tree.  That was my first sighting of the heron since last Fall.  I would have liked to get a photo of him, but I didn’t bring my camera along as the wind was gusting to 25 mph and I didn’t want to get any debris in the camera.

But, not toting the camera with me was a mistake, since it seemed like Ol’ Sol was quite conflicted this morning.  As I wended my way to the Park, I watched the sun repeatedly attempting to peek through the gray mottled sky, adding some pale pastel hues here and there for just a few seconds, then disappearing again.  It would have been an interesting photo.  Just as I arrived at Council Point Park, the sun finally gave up and slunk behind the clouds for good.

I sure was glad I’d donned my Chullo-style hat and tied it under my chin to keep it from going airborne in the stiff breeze.  I always feel like an oversized kid wearing this goofy-looking hat with the earflaps and pom-pom straps, but at least it stayed put and didn’t go somersaulting down the street, or snag onto a branch over the Creek, like my wool caps have done in the past on a breezy day.

The regular crowd has still not returned, perhaps put off by the wicked wind, but the squirrels came out in full force this morning, eager for a treat.

Today I made up for yesterday’s scanty steps by walking about 9,000 steps, which is 4 ½ miles.

Before I left for home, I scanned the Park one more time looking for any unusual critters from across the pond, er … Creek.  Nope, nothing out of the ordinary.  So, perhaps what happens yonder across the Creek, stays yonder across the Creek?  Maybe it’s all just an urban legend?

I may never know, and, as they say “the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”