The Brown Water Journal: Black, White and Brown

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The first real snowfall hit last week. The temperatures were favorable for snow, but not so cold as to freeze the river. Goose prints in the snow and the honking of geese called to me. I decided to get in a short paddle and enjoy the scenery.

I felt like an Inuit hunter dragging my boat across the snow to the river. There was no ice by the shore, so putting the boat in was easy.

The Canadian geese are still abundant. We can watch them from the house. They seem to congregate for hours in front of our dock. As they were on the far bank, they did not fly away when I put in.

There was a cold mist about. All was still. It felt good to be outside, but I did not feel the need to paddle any direction in particular.

Besides the color of my paddle jacket (yellow) and kayak (orange), the colors were all muted. The world was black, white and brown.

I paddled up to Sucker Brook. I could see it was iced-in.

The ice was thick enough to stop me right away.

I paddled around. My mind seemed to wander, and I spent a lot of time watching my boat wake and peering into the shallow water near the shoreline.

I pass these logs all the time. This time, I paddled around them and looked into the water. I realize that these were not some old logs which became lodged in the river bottom, but part of an old dock!

The mist turned into a light rain. It was so light I could see it, but not hear it or feel it. I pulled my hood up to try to keep warm, though the air temperature was just above freezing.

The geese were all about. Sometimes they would tolerate my passing . . .

. . . and sometimes they wouldn't.

Unlike the noisy, gregarious geese, the mallards stayed together in quiet, solitary groups.

I paddled down towards town. The Bridge Street bridge was traffic free.

I find it interesting to look at the construction of bridges when I pass under them. I wonder how many are in good shape. Of course looking up when it is raining is not a good idea as big drops of water drip off the bridge!