Being an unusually nice December Sunday in NorCal, Ma and I decided to take the kids out. We've been walking along the American River lately. Tot the Elder has been wanting to get a little closer to the river action than the trail usually runs, though.
We, ah, don't tell Ma how close Dad lets her get to the river during the summer. Like, up to her knees...
I knew from bike rides where there was a section of trail that came down right to the water, at a parking area near Sunrise Ave. Park the car, unload kids, head down to the water at a spot where there were plenty of rocks for the young'un to throw...
There must have been a dozen rotting salmon corpses along that little section alone.
Ohhhhh, yeah... it's the time of year the stragglers and weaklings swim upstream to die, isn't it. The hardy were taken and bred at the hatchery weeks ago.
Ma was less than pleased, though Tot the Elder thought it was great, as kids will. They don't mind 'gnarly' one bit.
My take: "Hey, cycle of life, food for new fishies and gulls and stuff, y'know."
Ma's take: "Gah, this is like the Compton of the river."
Ending the outing on a more upbeat note, we stopped at the Nimbus hatchery to feed some stink bait to the live babies there. They were quite a bit more active than their ancestors downstream.
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