Last week I paddled my kayak on a stretch of the Ipswich River which is very low, despite the biblical amount of rain we had this spring. One advantage to being out of work is that I can go when there are very few people and the animals are comfortable. There were turtles on every other log sunning themselves. It was amusing to think that while humans would have submerged themselves up to their necks, the turtles want to get warmer. Anyway, I was going downstream so there were places I could just go with the flow, literally. This was great when I was stalking a great blue heron. The current was gentle enough that I didn't approach too quickly. It got nervous a couple of times and flew a little way downstream, before leaving for good.
Once I went around a slight bend and startled a young muskrat on shore. It scampered through the grass so fast. I saw a pair of downy woodpeckers and a goldfinch, one of my favorites. Farther down some Canada geese were having a late lunch on the bank; I saw them plop into the stream on my way back.
The most exciting sight was, what I am quite certain, was a mink. Sightings are rare,apparently. I checked one book I have to compare minks and weasels. I did not see any white underneath, so I think it was a mink. Cool! I had never seen one in the wild before.
When I'm out, in my boat or walking, I'm in a different world. Even in this populated area, I feel like a pioneer, wondering what I'll discover around the next bend or that rise. I think of my father and how he tried to teach me to walk so quietly in the woods. I become an old 10-year old. It keeps me excited about whatever I see. Now, it isn't just seeing deer or heron, but sitting and watching them and how they move, behave. There's no scorecard.
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