The first blessing of the morning was from a duck, a large duck egg for breakfast.
I woke up wondering if Joe Biden died in his sleep. It wasn’t a good debate. He didn’t die and I’m glad. I really needed to go offline, like off land, on water, solo, with the current. So I took off and headed for the river up north.
Here are some pictures and notes from the day. I pulled a few tarot cards with the river for fun and contemplation.
I spent about three hours paddling where the only sound was the wind, the river, birds, and occasional farm equipment. No other boats or people for long periods.
The sheriff skiff was on the water but they didn’t ask for my permit- they were trying to cut up a log in the water with a chain saw.
Above is the roots of a tree I passed. Its network reached out into the air, downward toward the water. It was exposed but making it work.
I was below sky, above water. Moon and sun high up, together.
Close to shore I went right past a turtle basking on a rock. It was a gray-green color and looked like stoneware. There were brush and berries above it.
A fish jumped nearby. I ran into a blooming willow.
I was paddling and not thinking and heard a large sploosh and turned to see an osprey flying by with a fish.
For lunch I ate a bagel sandwich and sat at the edge of the water with the rocks and allowed my nervous system to calm.
I remembered a kind text message I got this morning from someone I don’t get to talk to that often. A few supportive sentences made my whole day. Possibly my week.
I peed behind willows and got ready to shove off.
Within minutes, I saw a bald eagle on a bare branch. It made a call.
About a 100 yards later a deer stood on the grassy bank and watched me float by.
Cottonwoods jingled their leaves.
I sat down on my board and didn’t paddle, just let the current take me. While blissing out I ended up in a group of eddy’s. Small churning spinning dials. I paid more attention.
The water became flat, shallow, moving fast. Then a large trout muscled by in a flash.
I exhaled.
It got more shallow and the sun lit up the water and I saw another trout and another. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 fish. Big, fast, zooming over round rocks.
A merganser duck with her tiny 6 ducklings swam easily upstream.
A little later I saw another momma duck and ducklings. I thought about the duck egg I ate for breakfast.
Made it to town - passed under bridges with dozens of mud swallow nests.
I drove home through wheat fields. I felt relaxed and stronger. I was ready to get back to regular life.
Oh and so many many birds singing songs! Look at the list of heard birds.
Yellow warbler swainson’s thrush black-capped chickadee purple finch common yellowthroat western wood-pewee brown creeper crow goldfinch spotted towhee brown-headed cowbird red-wing blackbird cedar waxwing song sparrow robin turkey bushtit bewick’s wren steller’s jay tree swallow spotted sandpiper.
Soul renewal