Some nights are
virtually sleepless. Last night was one of those. Alanagh and Molly knew, as
did I, that we needed a dose of back-road therapy to set the course of the day.
We decided to check out the By Wash at Davis Lock for two reasons: One, the
sound and smell of the clean clear water is good for cleaning and clearing a
fatigued mind, and two, the back roads to Davis are altogether charming.
Before the sun lifted
the mist, and long before the dew would join it, we drove slowly my beloved
back roads. When you turn off Highway 15 on to Crosby Road, and cross the creek
you will see the signs of the Carl Leggett farm, and you can admire their
stately farm house. This Leggett farm has been anchored on the Crosby drumlin
since 1827 and remains in the family today.
Martha Agar married
Benjamin Leggett April 20, 1811, John Leggett’s brother : Carl’s direct
forebear. In 1817 they, and their three children, left Wexford County
Ireland on the “Atlantica" to settle their 100 acre land grant in
Canada.The thirty-one year old Martha buried her husband at sea on May 22,
of that year, and her two year old daughter, in Quebec, that winter. Martha’s
sons were with her when she built the log house and began farming the land at
Crosby lot 20, 4th concession, in 1817. The boys owned the land then, because
women in that day could not be land holders. Hold the land she did!
An alert white tailed
buck deer was aware of us but continued to forage. His antlers that began to
grow in March or April are one of the fastest growing tissues known to mankind.
Their early growth is toward the back of the deer’s skull but during their
sprint upwards of 1.3 cm per day they face about.
In
another meadow far away a doe began her day. The rest I shall leave to you.
Curled Dock Weed
Reed Canary Grass
Red Cedar
smooth Bromegrass
Reed Canary Grass
Davis Lock By Wash
In another meadow far away, a doe began her day
