Pat Kennedy - Your Washington, DC Real Estate Connection

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please  email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certianly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment.  The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.

Over half the time I get behind the wheel, it means a drive through Rock Creek Park to reach my destination.  Whether it's a trip to the office or to Whole Foods, on my way, I am surrounded by nature at its most awesome.

Today, there was little traffic and I had my camera handy, so it gave me a chance to snap a few. 

 Most, but not all, of the leaves have fallen to the ground, and there are still patches of color.

Of course, I was looking for Bambi and her buck, but they were probaly making out like lusty teenagers and found a more private place.

If you live and drive in Washington, DC, especially if you use the roads that thread through Rock Creek Park, you might have noticed that our deer are acting strange.  They are coming into residential neighborhoods, and it's not unusual to see a group of them far from the Park on a neighbor's front yard.  And they are running around, flirting, cavorting and acting downright silly.  Loopy even!

Well, the Park Service reminds us that it's mating season, usually the first two weeks in November.  The little guys are loopy, not on Grey Goose, but  horny loopy - on hormones.  They are all looking for action and not looking where they are going! 

Last night I was driving along Broad Branch Road, and there was a buck lookin' for love in very wrong places.  He was standing in the middle of the road, assuming I'd stop my car without hitting him.  As I got closer, I saw he was in the lane with oncoming traffic, and I saw a line of headlights heading right toward him - and he wasn't moving!  I started to flash my brights on and off to alert the cars that were coming around the corner.  I didn't hear any screeching of brakes or other mayhem, so I'm assuming that deer and drivers worked it out and that Bambi's boyfriend didn't wind up as venison stew!  Maybe he even got lucky.

Every year, there are many accidents involving driver vs. deer, causing lots of damage to both cars and their drivers.  It doesn't do a lot for the deer either!

Back in the late 1800's, the federal government was looking for a guy to design an urban oasis in the nation's capital.  So they tapped Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York's Central Park.  Rock Creek flows into the Potomac in Georgetown, and the park follows Rock Creek Valley up into suburban Gaithersburg. 

The creek gets its name from, well, rocks!  There are lots of them along the creek bed.  Some of them were used to construct a narrow bridge that I cross several times a week driving from my house to points north.  This photo is courtesy of the National Park Service.

Where I live, I have to use Rock Creek Parkway every day to drive to work and to listings across town.  I took this photo from the Buffalo Bridge in Georgetown.  It's an incredibly beautiful drive during every season of the year.

The park has a nature center, stables where city people can take riding lessons, a mill, and a bunch of make out spots - one of them near this tree!  Looks like generations of sweeties have carved their initials in this tree!

Another important part of the park is the National Zoo, which you can reach from Beach Drive.  In addition to the zoo critters, there are large populations of deer, coyotes and now some foxes.

On weekends, large sections of Beach Drive, a major traffic artery through the park, are closed off for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.  There is also a tennis stadium and the Carter Baron Amphitheater, which is deserving of a blog post of its own!