Copyright 2021 by
Lori-Ann Willey
Though still aching from
a hard fall over the trailer tongue, I insisted we stick with our plans to
spend the evening upon the boat. It is a
warm day with light winds that helped to create waves quite daunting for my
injured torso. We agreed that we’d
anchor where there were no biting insects of the blackfly or mosquito kind, and
where the waves were less bouncy. I had
used Paul’s stairlift to the dock to help me “carry” stuff down to the boat.
Boy! Was I ever thankful for that neat
rig!
Once upon the boat, my “job”
is simple. I unhook from the dock and
give us a push. Today, that push was
nothing but a nudge from the dock versus my typical, “lemme see how far my leg
will stretch without falling into the water”.
Yup, Something I’ve always done. Not
sure why, especially, with the winds blowing away from the dock, there was no
need to do anything but step onto the boat.
My other “job” is to drop
and pull up the anchor, ready the fishing poles, and snap photos from my comfy
custom-made chair of the Paul Willey design.
Due to a problematic back and the jarring of the waves at times, my sit
upon the boat must be catering or I end up laying on the bench instead.
Paul rode the waves, so
it was a gentle ride for us both. We
ended up dropping anchor in an inlet just far enough from the shore to avoid
the bugs. I put a red and white dardevle
on my pole and gave my first cast of the season. My hope was a decent white perch, but I’d
take a pickerel for a recipe of the hydrolysate kind – garden fertilizer. In that spot, if there was no strike or fish
within the first 10 minutes, it was too early for them to be there. I had not a nibble.
After setting my pole
aside, I marveled at our surroundings – quiet as a mouse. Millions of trees, but not a squeak heard. Ah! My
kind of Heaven on Earth. After tending
to the meal on the grill, Paul picked up my pole and cast a few times, but he
came up empty-handed, too. He agreed with
me, “Still a bit early”.
The jagged shoreline
showed promise of the brilliant pink coloring of the Rhodora shrubbery kind. Here and there a spot of pink, but mostly,
that dull muddy pink color of buds waiting to open for full exposure, where the
large gray granite boulders interrupted the Rhodora-lined shoreline. “Glacial deposits,” I said to myself. We were but a few days too early to see the
pink flowers in full bloom. The many logs
along the shoreline are always fun to look at as they take on a personality of
their own, and of course, I always “humanize” them when I can. Fun stuff.
Here, the softwood and
hardwood trees mixed and mingled. They
are one forest living together in perfect harmony. We humans can learn a lot from nature, but
no. Most are too busy to look past their
own nose or think beyond their own thoughts.
It is a shame, really, how much of the real world is passed by without
being recognized, seen, or missed. The new,
young leaves of the maple, birch, alders, beech, and poplar species are still a
bright, light-colored green that is in vast contrast to the deep, dark, forest
green of the many pines, fir, cedar, spruce, and hemlock. Then, there is my favorite softwood, the
tamarack tree that is lighter in color and distinguished from the cedar in
shape, but at a distance, their coloration is nearly the same.
One always hopes to see a
deer, bear, or moose, however, none were seen today. We did see a few eagles soaring with
one that was chased by a smaller bird who apparently felt threatened and feared
for the safety of nesting eggs or young chicks on one of the islands. We were greeted by a few seagulls, but none
were our “Rainbow” or “Deux”. We saw a
few loons briefly surface both near and far, but they remained silent.
After a while, the waves
picked up at our location, so I pulled anchor, being very thankful we have a
capstan that did all the work for me so as not to feel my injury pulling it up
hand over hand until it rested upon the floor of the boat. Phew! By
the time we ducked behind an island, our suppah was ready to eat – ribs,
potatoes, and Pak Choy did the bodies right!
Not long after eating
while soaking in the view around us, we slowly made our way toward camp. What a beautiful evening had.
