Trance Paddling

Although overcast with a middling threat of rain, the day was calm and warm enough to not be a grim mess if the rain should come.  I set out just before the crest of high tide and rode an easy current upstream into the Neck River and Bailey Creek.  By the time I passed through the Sneak and reached the railroad bridge I had seen about 4 dozen Black Ducks and a half dozen Common Mergansers. 

But, this day seemed to be a trance paddling day.  I kept a steady paddle going without pausing.  This brought me to the "trance" of long distance motion.  The land swept by and while I noticed and knew the birds that I saw, I did not devote any mental effort into counting or observing them.  I suppose you become more animal than man, but you definitely become a part of nature when you are not an active observer.  The tidal current went slack by the time I got through the Big Bends and I continued on until the first bend above Foote Bridge.  Then I returned on that slack water not getting any beneficial ebb current until I was again below the Big Bends.

East River