Life on and in the Lake

A weekend canoe ride was pleasant. Perhaps because we needed a brief respite from wrenching disaster coverage on television and public radio. Or because our harrowed souls were slightly restored by our calm, clear, fresh, spring-fed body of water, after days of seeing the hideous devastation cause by those cruel waters along the Gulf Coast.

I could drink from and bathe in this lakewater--many of our seasonal residents do so. Found myself wishing a pipeline could send it southwards...for beneficial purposes.

This is a view of what we refer to as "our front yard." The red arrow indicates our house's location. From the canoe, in the center of the lake, our woods appear so thick there's no way to tell there's a single-track dirt road, much less a house site, or an acre or so of grass and gardens.



On our quiet journey, we passed several turtles sunning themselves. This is the first, on the far side of the lake.



Not far beyond, the second, which was very small.




In "front yard" area, we met the third turtle. Unlike the others, this one didn't dive into the water at our approach. She sat and sat as we paddled in for a close view, and maneuvered the canoe around the shallow waters.



Maybe she felt she knew us. This the territory of the females who cross the road to make nests in front of our house. After striking poses and letting me snap lots of pics, she calmly eased herself into the water.

The lake is quite deep, but in some areas there are large boulders and jutting rocks, like this one.



We're especially watchful, knowing huge rocks like this one aren't very far below the surface.



Also in the boggy bit of the "front yard" we saw these pretty stalks with white puffballs, some plant that's gone to seed.



We returned home, wishing we could share what we had experienced with those who are suffering.

And then we donated still more money to hurricane relief.