Invasive weeds?

Kris and I kayaked with a group of 30+ kayakers this morning, one of White Memorial's summer programs to explore the invasive weeds of the Bantam River. We were supposed to learn about invasive weeds, but that never seemed to transpire ~ we think the guide never woke up.

So... a great morning. Highlight of the day - seeing a deer swim across the river. How do they swim with such skinny legs???

Purple loosestrife lines the shore, elegant lilies in the water. Colors are mmm mmm nice.

"This is really cool as long as we don't get hit by lightning!"

Practice for the ladies full moon kayak scheduled for Friday. I will not be in Litchfield for this (sister weekend in PA - woooo hooo!), so just Kris & I head out tonight. Out on the water by 7:30 pm. It was a really steamy day and there is a threat of thunderstorms, but as we head out onto the water the sky is perfectly clear. As we head downriver toward Bantam Lake, the colors of sunset are just beginning to form on the horizon. The beaver are already awake, starting their night of activity. They are miffed at our presence.

Under Chickadee Bridge where some kids are hanging out in the heat of the evening. They wait lazily for us to paddle under, then they climb to the top of the bridge (way top) and jump. Tradition!

The dam just before the lake is a bit of a challenge for us this time but we manage to get over, knowing full well that coming back in to dark, going upriver, and back over the dam will be a challenge. Out to the lake. The sun has just set. Brilliant colors paint most everything to our right; the moon is just coming up to our left. We each get lost in the lily pads.

More journaling later Kris - have Responsibilities now... I'll save the lightening story until then... enjoy the Flower Moon of Friday! I'll text you from PA! I'll be on the water too! :)

p.s. that blob on the moon picture is a stupid mosquito! better the lens than my skin... i'll have to get my photo editors to edit him out!

This was a Great Night out! Loved it. Lightning and all!

Adding to Susan's post of 'through the eyes of a 15 yr old'

Susan has already described our trip from yesterday (Saturday, May 1) with Ryan and Jacob, so I will just add a few of Ryan's photos here, and will add more to the "more photos" section of the site when I learn how! Only other thing to add to the post is about our little side trip of the river from Little Pond - it was narrow, extremely shallow and had a surprisingly strong current running through. It really was quite a bit of work to get in there, but worth it. We meandered up through more of the boardwalk area and into the golf course, passing under one of the boardwalk bridges and two bridges within the golf course. Ryan fished out about a half dozen golf balls from the bottom of the river.
All photo credits in this post go to Ryan Gannon.

through the eyes of a 15 year old

Sightings: beaver, geese, mallard ducks, great blue heron, other birds (?)
Sunrise: 5:46 am
Temp: 58 F
Moon: waning gibbous, 3/4, setting in the west

Getting two teenagers out of bed @ 5:00 am on a Saturday morning wasn't easy, but we did it! Boats in the water around 5:30. Kris, me, Ryan, Jacob. Two moms and our two babies (sorry Ryan & Jacob - you will always be our babies!).

Getting over the first beaver dam is getting trickier these days as the water gets lower and the beaver build higher. As we make multiple attempts to navigate over the dam, numerous beaver are lazily cruising around on the far side of the dam, taking note of us, laughing at us I'm sure. Over we go, the beaver go under, on we continue. We've been out here enough to know that some of the beaver will quickly resurface behind us. I can visualize them looping and cartwheeling below me. I would love to join them.

Kris & I lag behind Jacob & Ryan as they kayak slowly up river, our Nikons at ready. We relinquish the reward of being the first in line to stir up the wildlife of dawn. Jacob is capturing the story with the Canon Powershot, Ryan his photographic consultant. see the short video ...

Out to Little Pond. One fisherman, one swan, one walker on the boardwalk. We scatter into three different directions - Ryan and Kris head up a small side stream, Jacob gets moored on a sandbar and takes advantage of the moment to capture what passes by him. I wander across the pond, chase the swan for a bit (at a distance - he's not to be messed with), and then lose myself among the water lilies.

The sun has just broken over the trees and the light is cutting into the water in such a way that you can see below the water surface. The lilies exist not just on the surface, but are a whole other piece of art below the surface too. I am privy to the World Below the Lilies. The colors are spectacular.




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Here is what Jacob captured...