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. . . but the surface of my life is a little disturbed. I need to make sure I seek those few moments of quiet.
I wasn't going to venture onto the river - but something called me to the water. I wasn't interested in a long paddle - that seemed to structured and goal oriented. I wasn't on the look for any specific waterfowl or wildlife. Maybe I needed to just paddle about and see what I can see.
Aimless, I followed the river upstream. There is a little area that is surrounded by cattails. It is shallow and weedy. I wonder what I would find.
Vast areas of duckweed covered the surface. This plant amazes me. I is just a small stem / roots and a few leaves floating about in still water. It is thought to be a great water purifier, absorbing nitrogen and phosphates. Scientists are studying it as a source of carbon-neutral biomass.
I paddled very slowly through the duckweed. I wondered what was underneath in the brown water.
Ahead by the shore was a wood duck box. They are gone now. I will need to revisit this nest to see if I can catch a glimpse of the beautiful birds.
As I got closer to shore, I had to pull up the rudder and carefully pull my paddle blades out of the water or I would have a bunch of wet salad on my blade to deal with!
The shoreline is ringed with cattails. They, like the duckweed, like the still water. The autumn winds slowly pull the heads apart, leaving them with fuzzy white tops like over-sized cotton swabs.
There are a lot of small islands in the river. Most are just a few meters wide. As I was paddling by this one I heard a small, squeaky noise.
In one of the few substantial trees on this island I saw a squirrel. How did it get here? Did it walk across the ice in the winter looking for food? I wonder If I will find the squirrel there next spring?
I decided to call this little island Squirrel Island.
I wasn't looking to accomplish anything today. Instead, I discovered an island!
Safe Paddling . . .
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