A Day at Blackacre

It was a chilly Friday morning. First I went to the 200-year-old barn. The barn swallows were flying about frantically. The horse whinnied when she saw me. I went to the pigsty to get some corn for her. The air was musty and the walls were covered with cobwebs. I thought of the people who used to live here as I fingered the ancient tools on the wall. I slowly lifted the latch of a dusty door and found myself inside the hayloft. The horse put her head through the window that looked into her stall. I gave her the corn. Then I sat in the hay to read, but I didn't stay long. A goat chased me out, and I don't like to mess with goats. The grass was sparkling with dew.

It was starting to get hotter, so I decided to go wading in the creek. I walked down the gravel road to the trail. The trail seemed incredibly long that day, and there seemed to be more spider webs across the path than usual. When I got to the waterfall, I climbed down the grapevine rope and started exploring. The creek is very small, but in some places there are pools a couple of feet deep. The water falls from overhanging rocks. It's very cool and damp with lots of ferns. This is my favorite place at Blackacre because it is so peaceful and since it is in the woods, there are lots of birds and other animals to watch. I took off my shoes and got into one of the deep pools, then started walking downstream. When I would step over a log, I never knew what to expect... three inches of water or three feet of water. Sometimes I stepped on sharp rocks that hurt my feet, and when I stepped in algae it felt soothing. It was getting late in the day. I quickly put on my shoes and hurried back through the woods.