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Friday 29 July 2016

waterlily paddling

for Angelee

Image result for loon pics


Had a great paddle yesterday (thanks for the encouragement!), esp. as it was the first trip in almost a year. Paddled 1 1/2 hours downstream from the dam on the Crowe River. Saw:

 

small turtle
perched at the very tip
of a tree snag




This is a very deserted stretch of the river, as it's south of the dam, so inaccessible to Crowe Lake. No houses or cottages once I had gone the first few hundred yards. Even the solitary loon seemed lonely, and kept sharing his haunting call, while carefully watching my slow progress.

I picked the right time for the trip, as waterlilies are in full bloom:


so much enlightenment
rising from the muck
of sewage bay



Image result for water lily pic
(yep, the Marmora sewage plant empties into this stretch of The Crowe)

There is almost no draft on my tiny kayak - for much of the trip I was paddling near shore in just over a foot of water. On the edge of a large patch of lily pads:

 

BUMP!
basking muskie head
then swirling tail


(not exactly a Moby Dick encounter, but muskies are the northern freshwater equivalent of salt water barracudas, or perhaps the huge alligator gars of the Florida everglades)

After the encounter with the muskie, I noticed a brave little mother mink swimming across open water with a mouthful of vegetation. We parallel paddled for a few hundred yards, me praying the muskie wouldn't see her.

 

almost home
great blue heron soars
from the turtle's perch









                                       
                                                   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

ayaz daryl nielsen has left a new comment on your post "waterlily paddling":

hmm, some envy. . . our last canoe trip was on the Missouri R. in Montana,
eagle swept down, snatched a fish about ten feet from where we were gliding along -
well, best to your day, Chris

Posted by ayaz daryl nielsen to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 31 July 2016 at 04:31

Monday 25 July 2016

Far North: Susan Ioannou


Far north
when blue curves closer
as if to cup the earth

between outcrop
and pines' needled spaces
mind can almost touch a Presence

until past dusk
the darkness crystallizes
-- one after one such stars!

A sprinkle, scatterings, mulltitudes
layering thicker and thicker
than any imagined vision

glittering from immensities of black,
beyond and beyond
and beyond

-- how can a single Spirit
watch over it all?


Susan Ioannou


from Looking for Light
Hidden Brook Press, 2016


                           ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ 


On 2016-07-25, at 8:17 PM, Richard M. Grove wrote:

hi guys

i have been away from my computer for a few days – visiting my mom – 88.

so glad that far north is being published again.

all the best

tai

i am working on my book. just edited this poem for back cover –
 
Kayaking on the Ripples of Indian Summer

leaves chatter against gentle shoreline-lapping
sun warms bare legs after cold paddle-dripping sparks zing
breeze carries me      a lullaby 
    east                       
         home 
              resting
after restorative invigorating strokes into fall’s black bay
yin and yang balance restored    
                          soul sings