Shadow Figures

A dark shadow figure loomed above me in my sleep and I woke with a start and a shout...at least I think that I shouted.  And, my eyes opened enough to confirm that there was nothing there, even though I knew that there was something, because dreams are something and they come from something.  I prefer my shadow figures in the forest and rivers.  I prefer to be on their terrain rather than having them on mine.  It is a canoe day.

Too many days have passed.  The heat and humidity and the July 4th water antics made dry land my refuge.  Hot days like that are dawn starts in the canoe as are long weekend vacation days.  Be on the water near dawn and in the shade by noon, be off the water by the time that the third mai-tai or bloody mary hits the boat driver's brain.

The water in the cove is so still that it seems a shame to disturb it with my paddle.  I move quietly and steady.  Two large hawks sweep down through the trees and soon, an immature Bald Eagle comes by.  A soft breeze comes up.  It is full of humidity and it really does feel soft.  The only description for it that comes to mind is, puff.  It is a very prolonged puff of soft air.  The smell of warm fresh water come with it and the water is almost balmy to the touch.

I planned on the Shephaug River.  It is a right turn out of the cove and then round a point and head back up river.  It is a good trip of mostly heavily forested shoreline with an active Eagle nest about an hour in.  But, I turned up the Housatonic instead.  I have never paddled up this way and the conditions were good for it.

I expected more houses, and while there were more houses than over on the Shephaug, there still was long sections of forested shoreline.  A motorboat lake on summer weekends, there were just a few fishing boats and they were, most of the time, parked near the shore, near the good bass spots.

American Goldfinch

I headed up about 2 hours wondering how much farther it was to Lovers Leap.  With no map, I did my figuring by looking at the shape of the land.  At two hours it looked like I might be in the last stretch to Lovers Leap, but I had a hunch it was a last stretch of two or more miles.  So, I returned, but I returned having found another launch site that would shorten the trip to the Leap to a more reasonable day distance.