Hidden Surprises

There was a steady hot wind coming down out of the the coastal hills.  As I scanned the hillside nothing was moving save the undulating waves of dried grass.  Earlier I thought that I saw a small deer moving into a brushy area, but now everything was still, not a bird, not a squirrel, nothing.  I began thinking of another similar place when I was walking through buck-brush down a hot canyon, and my canteen was bone dry.  The brush forced force me towards the center of the draw where the walls became steeper and I moved into a deep narrow ravine.  It was shaded with overgrowth and I could feel the temperature drop by several degrees. At that point  I thought that I heard a gurgling noise;  I looked down, and YES  there  was a small stream of water falling into a little pool.  As I reached down to scoop up a handful of the precious stuff  I saw movement beneath the surface.  There were fish!  I saw tiny trout about two inches long swimming about in the cool water.  I am still amazed at what I found hidden down there in the bottom of that canyon on a hot and dry California  summer afternoon.

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