🌿 Experiencing a Miyazaki-Style Summer in the USA 🐸

For one of my classes, our professor took us electrofishing and measuring water bodies around East Lansing… and that’s how I discovered this magical little place — Columbia Creek. It feels like stepping right into a Hayao Miyazaki film! 🌳💧 Now that the weather’s warm, this has become my favorite escape. I often come here to catch toads and crayfish 🦞 (fun fact: the Northern Leopard Frog in the photo is actually edible, and back in the mid-20th century, it was commonly eaten by lakeside communities here in Michigan!). The creek is clear and shallow — the deepest part only reaches mid-calf on someone my height (just over 5 feet). 🧍‍♀️💦 A cute little stone dam crosses the stream, holding back silt from upstream and creating a perfect home for crayfish. The old fire hydrant you see in the first photo? 🚒 It’s probably been there longer than I’ve been alive. Water constantly flows through it, washing over the stone slab below — which looks clean but is actually covered in slippery moss. Nearby there’s a small playground with swings where kids (and playful adults!) can sway back and forth… and if you’re lucky, someone will push you high — really high! 🎢🍃 The bridge over the creek is beautifully designed. On one side (where I took the photo), the water is slow, clear, and shallow — still part of the upstream. On the other side, it flows into a dense woodland downstream. Suddenly it gets deeper — you can’t touch the bottom anymore — and the current picks up as it prepares to join a wider, stronger river. 🌊 It reminds me of an old poetic line: “How can a mountain stream ever stay? It must flow onward to become ocean waves.” 🌅 #USA #Summer #Michigan #EastLansing #CreekLife #Crayfish #Frogs #Miyazaki #Wildlife #NatureMagic