A dreary sky lurked outside of my window; doesn't exactly entice one to go boating. I went anyway, without much enthusiasm. My skin beaded sweat, but not the good kind you get from being scorched by the sun - it was a muggy, itchy, buggy, sticky, humid hot. Typical Florida.
I sat there drifting for a moment in silence. The water was completely dark - no sun to pierce through the reflective, glassy shield of the surface. Nature's beauty wasn't attending this occasion. I sluggishly paddled on, hoping to discover something better up ahead.
Man, was I right in my decision to keep going. Lo and behold, past old-man-Bob's dock, hundreds of lilies and their precious white flowers laid upon the ripples of the lake, hiding the dark, obsidian-like surface. Making my way carefully around the patches of fragrant blooms so as not to harm the delicate little things, I gazed down at the exposed surface, and realized something was different there as well. Clearly visible rays of light shot down through the water, peeling away the sky-mirroring shadow from the lake bottom life. I could now easily see the wonders that lay beneath - minnows, reeds, and a few other odd things I didn't recognize. For the first time in over a year, I spied fish larger than my index finger. That's when I knew it truly was spring.
The sun shone onto my back and gave me that pleasant sweaty feeling that I don't mind so much. I was amazed - I hadn't seen real fish in forever! This is a really good sign! Everywhere the boat passed by, I could see straight to the sandy, algae-covered lake bottom. I know I make my lake (hey, that rhymes ;D) seem like a dirty, mucky place, but it really is, in my mind, a minor eighth wonder of the world. The surface smooth as glass, the water clear as crystal (when it's sunny) and the life so diverse and so interactive with each other. You could spot anything from 100 species of birds out there to an otter, gator, turtle, carp, deer, frogs - you name it. It might as well be a transported chunk of the Everglades.
Ah! I just love and I can't stop talking about it! If only my damn camera would work (plus it would help if I even remembered to bring it out there at all :/) then I would have some real shots of nature's eye candy to show y'all right now. However, as I have mentioned, that is not the case. So I will continue to draw a picture with words.
My curiosity nearly tipped me out of the canoe as I tilted further forward to peer into the lake water. Striped fish darted away into the floating lilies, tucked away in their beds of kelp-ish plants and sand. I spotted a school (I think that's the proper way to put it?) of tadpoles as they breast-stroked away from me, their tails a sign of their youth. They're actually quite cute. Further down the lake, I come across a heron larger than I have ever seen. You see, in FL, it's normal to see several birds half the size of ostriches constantly on your front lawn. So, if I think I big bird is small, you can imagine the size of this heron. It's blue crest fluffed in the slight breeze as it ate something, maybe a bug, off its leg. Wanting to get a close up, I whipped out my phone and tried to zoom in - until I realized that this new phone that I liked so much at first (LG Cosmos Touch) has no zoom in-out button. I went nuts, then headed home.
I turned around, and once again, I took my time avoiding the fragile lily blooms, no wanting to crush them. The canoe came to a clearing where I could paddle freely. For no apparent reason, just spur of the moment, I paddled wildly in my new direction, I figured out I was stronger than I thought.
That led to an epiphany - I guess what I said above can apply to a lot of things, can't it? I know you've probably heard it before, but you never know until you try, right? If you put enough effort into it,maybe probably, you'll succeed. And that stuck with me the rest of the day, not to mention it certainly came through in my interactions with others.
One more thing: If I'm going to get real good at my new hobby, canoeing, it seems only fit that I find a name for the boat, regardless of the fact that it's a canoe, not a sailboat. If you've got any good ideas, please do tell me! ;) Oh, and I apologize for infrequent posting. Been very busy lately.
~sleepinl8
I sat there drifting for a moment in silence. The water was completely dark - no sun to pierce through the reflective, glassy shield of the surface. Nature's beauty wasn't attending this occasion. I sluggishly paddled on, hoping to discover something better up ahead.
Man, was I right in my decision to keep going. Lo and behold, past old-man-Bob's dock, hundreds of lilies and their precious white flowers laid upon the ripples of the lake, hiding the dark, obsidian-like surface. Making my way carefully around the patches of fragrant blooms so as not to harm the delicate little things, I gazed down at the exposed surface, and realized something was different there as well. Clearly visible rays of light shot down through the water, peeling away the sky-mirroring shadow from the lake bottom life. I could now easily see the wonders that lay beneath - minnows, reeds, and a few other odd things I didn't recognize. For the first time in over a year, I spied fish larger than my index finger. That's when I knew it truly was spring.
The sun shone onto my back and gave me that pleasant sweaty feeling that I don't mind so much. I was amazed - I hadn't seen real fish in forever! This is a really good sign! Everywhere the boat passed by, I could see straight to the sandy, algae-covered lake bottom. I know I make my lake (hey, that rhymes ;D) seem like a dirty, mucky place, but it really is, in my mind, a minor eighth wonder of the world. The surface smooth as glass, the water clear as crystal (when it's sunny) and the life so diverse and so interactive with each other. You could spot anything from 100 species of birds out there to an otter, gator, turtle, carp, deer, frogs - you name it. It might as well be a transported chunk of the Everglades.
Ah! I just love and I can't stop talking about it! If only my damn camera would work (plus it would help if I even remembered to bring it out there at all :/) then I would have some real shots of nature's eye candy to show y'all right now. However, as I have mentioned, that is not the case. So I will continue to draw a picture with words.
My curiosity nearly tipped me out of the canoe as I tilted further forward to peer into the lake water. Striped fish darted away into the floating lilies, tucked away in their beds of kelp-ish plants and sand. I spotted a school (I think that's the proper way to put it?) of tadpoles as they breast-stroked away from me, their tails a sign of their youth. They're actually quite cute. Further down the lake, I come across a heron larger than I have ever seen. You see, in FL, it's normal to see several birds half the size of ostriches constantly on your front lawn. So, if I think I big bird is small, you can imagine the size of this heron. It's blue crest fluffed in the slight breeze as it ate something, maybe a bug, off its leg. Wanting to get a close up, I whipped out my phone and tried to zoom in - until I realized that this new phone that I liked so much at first (LG Cosmos Touch) has no zoom in-out button. I went nuts, then headed home.
I turned around, and once again, I took my time avoiding the fragile lily blooms, no wanting to crush them. The canoe came to a clearing where I could paddle freely. For no apparent reason, just spur of the moment, I paddled wildly in my new direction, I figured out I was stronger than I thought.
That led to an epiphany - I guess what I said above can apply to a lot of things, can't it? I know you've probably heard it before, but you never know until you try, right? If you put enough effort into it,
One more thing: If I'm going to get real good at my new hobby, canoeing, it seems only fit that I find a name for the boat, regardless of the fact that it's a canoe, not a sailboat. If you've got any good ideas, please do tell me! ;) Oh, and I apologize for infrequent posting. Been very busy lately.
~sleepinl8
No comments:
Post a Comment
Like it? Comment. Don't like it? Comment anyway.