Deer Creek

Like most of us that take pictures in the Delta, I have my favorite spots that I return to every chance I get.

Deer Creek in Anguilla is one of these spots. For those not familiar with Deer Creek, it winds its way throughout the Mississippi Delta, from the Mississippi River in Washington County to the Yazoo River in Warren County. Its banks are full of history. It was the home to an agriculturally based, prehistoric Indian culture as early as 1200 A.D. Plantations dotted its banks in some of the richest alluvial soil in the Delta. Jim Henson played on its banks in Leland, MS with his friend Kermit Scott and he shared these moments with the world through the original Muppet, Kermit.

For about a year, I have visited Deer Creek, and I have, indeed, fallen in love.

An overcast day changes the light in just a way that allows an otherwise pedestrian, some would even say ugly, culvert to look like a bridge in a Monet painting.  

Standing in just the right spot, a view down the creek rivals the best landscape scenes anywhere.

Ducks splashing, and showing off for potential mates, give way to lazy ones resting on a log on a hot and muggy September morning looking for a chance to cool off in the creek.

Turtles are often seen trying to stay on a log that just keeps rolling and finally making it to bask in the sun to replenish the calcium needed to keep a hard shell of protection.

When I close my eyes. I can imagine baptisms in the creek, at a spot marked by crosses just across from Anguilla Methodist Church,

As usual, I post my Deer Creek shots on my facebook page. They are some of the most "liked" pictures. A friend of mine summed it up completely for me when she shared a recent picture I took on the shores of Deer Creek, "I think that many times we become so used to seeing things in our own community day after day , that we fail to notice the real beauty that visitors recognize & are drawn to." 

Deer Creek is, indeed, one of those special places. Check it out some time!