Raising teenagers so often feels in your face hard — sometimes breathtakingly hilarious, sometimes just not.

I remind myself of running rivers. Not far from us, Buffalo Mountain’s watershed drains into Cooper Brook, which runs around the log yard and by the old granite cutting fields into the Lamoille, which bends its sinuous way through town. Watching drone footage over our town, my daughters remark on the river’s size, its curves all through town, and how we take its mighty presence for granted.

On a Sunday walk today, robins flocked around us. Ahead, a woodchuck disappeared down a hole. Garden predators are stirring, too!

….There’s one chuck left. Old wily fellow, he keeps
me cocked and ready day after day after day…..

From Maxine Kumin’s “Woodchucks”