At last Janice B was back for those pictures of Austin from the water she had almost-gotten last year. Jennifer M. joined us from across the water, Stephanie N showed off her husband’s thoughtfulness in a roof-top boat carrier that was a snap to operate, and newcomer Julija gave us something to cheer about; her son, Sebastian, is on a rowing team headed for championships in Sarasota soon. Although he and the others on the team were spotted on the water in a sleek scull from the Rowing Center (and followed by the coach-in-a-boat), we did not embarrass him by waving and shouting, much. We took off in the direction of the Tom Miller dam, travelling with the wind, and passing under the Redbud Trail bridge where it narrows into a cool, shady and picturesque passage, then opens on to a wide vista of the dam and a small island. The loop back under the bridge offers a wide view of the cliffs along the Colorado, framed on the east by cypresses and their snaky roots. Along the way we saw a few turtles sunning themselves on tree stumps, not quite the twenty-one perfectly size-graduated ones of last month near the Springs, but some that were surprisingly big. A small green heron in the recesses, egrets in flight, the flash of a duck, and, as we paddled hard against the wind on our return, a pair of very large, and a little ominous, vultures on the cliff. No supper out this time, but promises for our next outing May 25 at 5:30. The observation was made, in our conversations across the water that, for most of us, this type of outing is one of the few things we do for ourselves, rather than out of obligation to someone else. We are away from our phones, most sound-producing electronics. A couple of hours on the water, and as Julia noted, with comfortable temperatures at the end of a hot day, and the calming sound of water against the kayak hulls.
So join us next week. Linda