Summary

Dillard begins this essay with her observations of a June afternoon. Spring has come and gone and she notes summer has been ushered in after a heavy rainfall. With this rainfall the creek temporarily swells and this reminds her of one year ago when the creek flooded from Hurricane Agnes.

She recalls watching the creek swollen beyond its 4-foot banks as it snaked through the trees. The water was clay-colored and foaming. She thinks about all of the animals that rely on the creek for habitat and for food and how in a flood this destructive, they must be struggling or dead. She remembers how she stood by the creek and saw that her neighbors, whom she had not seen all winter, were gathered near the bridge.

The water was up to the bridge, threatening to go under and they barricaded the bridge so...