Two Loons on a Lake

The day began bright, sunny and clear.  Dave and I put the children on the bus, then began packing for the days' caper.  Excitement running high for both of us as we trekked to the public landing.  Once there, we cracked the code on the padlock to the boathouse.  Inside were a plethora of multicolored life-jackets, personal floatation devices and oars.  We collected the needed gear, walked over to the shore and placed them on the beach while we chose our craft and removed it from its mooring.  We carried it over to the launching ditch, put it down and loaded it up (ourselves included).


I've never canoed before and was surprised at how easily our craft could tip.  It didn't seem to tip half as much when Dave got in.  My weight counter-balanced his I guess.  It took me a little bit to get the knack of how to paddle when in a canoe.  (I'm used to rowing boats.)  I wildly plunged my paddle into the water from one side to the other and splashed Dave on both attempts.

"Whoa, Tiger, easy on the oars!!!  You're soaking me!" he stated wetly.
"Oh, sorry, Honey."

Once I found my rhythm steering became easier. Destination- islands in the middle of the pond.  There was a gusting breeze that created turbulence on the surface waters.  We had to keep up a steady pace in order to continue with forward momentum.  We got rhythm, we got style- just come paddle for a while...Peace and quiet were virtues found on this journey.  We became clear minded and focused on doing the next right thing- paddling gently do we don't tip the canoe.

                      Island Ho --

Canoeing is a communication sport.  Dave and I had to explain ourselves
in detail in order to go in a certain direction.  The wind was a pushing force against us as we headed toward the island.  I had to decide on what angle to approach the island.  We were told that there was a sandy side with less rocks for landing.  As we neared the island head on, I noticed a large rock under our bow.  I hit it with my paddle to avoid hitting it with the canoe.  Then I spotted more boulders under the water and pushed off those as well to avoid a catastrophe.  We backed up and then proceeded off towards the right side of the island and in between the two of them until we finally located the sandy side.  We cruised through the shallows easily and disembarked getting our shoes soaked.

Although the island was small, it was picturesque and a perfect place for a picnic.  We ate our PB&J's, chips and lemonade in the shade of a small oak tree.  The rocks had allowed the growth of bitter berry bushes, young oaks and silver leafed trees.  We observed seven inch long black fish, and medium sized turtles over the edge of the ledge as we made our way back to the canoe.

We entered the canoe more gracefully this time and embarked on the exploration of the far side of the pond.  There we found a life-saver ring tied to a cinder block in the middle of the cove - a rather unexpected ornament to be found there.  Painting fodder --wharves, professionally landscaped lawns, gardens and manicured bushes...a more perfect day couldn't have been had for this excursion.

We used wind power to propel us back.  Along the way, I noticed a pair of Loons off the stern about 20 feet away. 

"Let's see if we can get close to them," I suggested.
"Ok," Dave replied as he began rowing.
Within 10 feet of them, we stopped paddling and got out the camera.  Just as Dave shot the picture, one Loon swooned upward and then dived under the water. The other dived while we weren't looking at it and both swam away.
"I got the shot!" Dave stated triumphantly.

We gently paddled back to shore to find a young couple awaiting our arrival.  Their names were Chantel and Issac from Vermont.  They wanted to go canoeing too.  We handed our gear to them with the instructions to lock up when they were done. ( We found the next day that they hadn't. So we did it for them.)

The peace and clarity found out on the pond remained with us for the walk home and into the evening.

The Happy Campers
Jill and Dave