I made it to the public access site of our local chain of lakes right at dawn. Not a soul in the parking lot. I put my MR Indy, the first canoe I ever bought, in the water and paddled into the red sky. "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning" - a chance of rain was in the forecast for about 11AM. The first lake was as close to mirror-flat as it gets.
The beavers had built a new lodge since the last time I had been there. While one of them slapped its tail and disappeared right away, the other one let me slide to within about 30' before he/she dove for safety. The cattails were full of red winged blackbirds. They all seemed to have staked out their little territories and were singing a song, if you want to call it that. The geese were honking very loud and I passed several nests under construction. The many wood ducks I saw will have to find themselves a hollow tree pretty soon.
A little wood smoke in the air made me think of a camp fire, even though it was probably from a wood burner in one of the cabins.
The second lake had some ripples on it from the light breeze. There was a fly-over by an osprey and our eyes met.
The wildlife is expecting spring to come just as we are. The vegetation is still pretty much dormant; the crocuses are in bloom at home.
My paddling muscles were pretty sore. It's amazing how out of shape you can get over the winter. I'm very grateful that I was able to take this little trip.
Sorry, no photos; I should have taken the camera.
The beavers had built a new lodge since the last time I had been there. While one of them slapped its tail and disappeared right away, the other one let me slide to within about 30' before he/she dove for safety. The cattails were full of red winged blackbirds. They all seemed to have staked out their little territories and were singing a song, if you want to call it that. The geese were honking very loud and I passed several nests under construction. The many wood ducks I saw will have to find themselves a hollow tree pretty soon.
A little wood smoke in the air made me think of a camp fire, even though it was probably from a wood burner in one of the cabins.
The second lake had some ripples on it from the light breeze. There was a fly-over by an osprey and our eyes met.
The wildlife is expecting spring to come just as we are. The vegetation is still pretty much dormant; the crocuses are in bloom at home.
My paddling muscles were pretty sore. It's amazing how out of shape you can get over the winter. I'm very grateful that I was able to take this little trip.
Sorry, no photos; I should have taken the camera.