Earth Day

My portage begins without aim and I walk a hundred yards or two before deciding to head west instead of north or east. Either way the canoe will go in the water and I will go in the canoe. If all goes well, if I wonder at the beauty of it all in spite of man's mistakes, I may move another inch towards becoming a child of nature. It seems as good of a path as any, perhaps a path to some sort of enlightenment, but certainly better than many of the directions that one could take.
And some people think that I am just canoeing.

I cross Lake Union and paddle north into the wind until working across into and through the top of Portage Bay, through the Crossing Under Place and into Union Bay, the pearl. At Broken Island, the goose nest is all well and there is even a second nest on the west edge. The west lodge nest is totally abandoned now with all of the eggs gone. I spot a northern shoveler nearby and the first blossoms of the lily pads. I edge the north shore and the north marsh sneaking into the NE lagoon where a northern flicker sits in a willow tree that overlooks the goose nest that I found here earlier. It is fine although it is only 3 inches above water. It is calm in the lagoon and the trees that enclose the area are leafing out, enclosing the area even more.

I cut straight south across the bay, finding a new goose nest at the top of the east marsh. This is probably about the peak of goose nesting right now, there are few un-nested geese anywhere. It is a beautiful paddle in brilliant sunlit green as I finish up through the east channel of the burial island.