Before Dinner or After?

Hubby wanted to go out in our canoe and that title of this post above is what he asked me at 3:00 P.M. on Memorial Day. He does not have to twist my arm much as I like the quiet and peacefulness of a canoe trip.  We had been snacking all day, so neither was really hungry for dinner and we decided that leaving at any time would be perfect.

We go past the mouth of our finger of the river and instead of turning left we turn right to go back up away from the water skiers, Skidooers, and partiers sitting on rubber rafts with the American flag waving. 

It does not take long before we are into the hushed part of the river. The part of the river, at first, where only quiet talk from owners on their docks is heard and then the homes become farther apart and we hear only birds. There was the familiar sound...the coo of the mourning dove with her nest high in some jade-green tree, this was followed by the cry of a Blue-jay taunting other birds by imitating the call of the Red-Tailed Hawk, and later, somewhere a sweet and tentative song of the Scarlet Tanager that is rarely seen in the deep green shadows. 

It is the perfect time of the year when spring is leaving but summer has not arrived with the heat and humidity. The only minor annoyance is the few small "no-see-ums" that land and bite and get mashed by my hand if we get too close to shore.

We move in on the territory of two mallards looking for food.  They seemed to disappear and reappear as they eased in and out of the shadows.

They were a reminder of the nest of Mallard eggs that had been eaten in my flower garden last year.  I wondered if these were the same parents.

We paddled on...hubby paddles 80% as I have a camera in hand and a canoe does not require much effort to move when there are no boat wakes to turn into at rapid speed.  There are several old duck blinds in this area that are no longer in use and that may be why the Mallards feel safer.

Hubby had taken the canoe here by himself just a day ago and came upon some crazy carp orgy.  They were splashing and even bumping into the canoe.  They must have worn themselves out, as they were just quietly hanging in mid-water under patches of grasses as we cruised on by on this day.

The air smelled clean and even though the waters look green the smell of the water was pure and fresh as well.

The blackbirds were perching on grasses which is their common behavior. This one below is a juvenile perched on the seed stalks of the rose mallow.

We were enjoying the lower angles of the sun and the calmness of the wildlife away from the noise of mankind. It was a perfect afternoon, but we knew we had to start our paddle back home, and as if giving us a parting gift, the marsh showed us the beginning and the peak blossoms of the mountain laurel with their almost pre-historic flower structure.  They grow in poor soils along steep terrain proving their tenacity to weather it all.

We felt restored as we headed back into the land of the crazy.