Wednesday was the first decent day we've had in quite a while. The heat finally broke, it was clear, cool, an all around beautiful day. Clay is working from home on Wednesdays throughout the summer so that made for a perfect day for another canoe trip down the Rivanna. We dropped off a car to get an inspection done and then he dropped me and the canoe at the Rt. 600 bridge. Because it was cooler, I did a lot more paddling and less idle drifting and cut an hour off my time from the last trip.
I couldn't lay my hands on my camera as we were heading out the door so I went without it. As I predicted, it was the day I'd see the most wildlife: two deer, including one in the river; two painted turtles, one swimming along the bottom of the river and one sunning himself on a downed tree in the river with neck outstretched as I drifted by, just five feet away; an osprey; and multiple sitings of three Great Blue Herons, with several excellent photo ops. The herons are incredibly beautiful birds. They'd fly off when I got too close, moving a little further down the river. After two or three such moves, they would double back, probably returning to their original fishing spot. Before long, I would encounter another and the pattern would repeat itself. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures, but not having the camera also freed me from worrying about trying to get the pics.
I was free from the tyranny of technology for a few hours that afternoon. It's amazing how remote you can feel on that river. There is no development to speak of and the view is pretty much restricted to the river downstream by the trees that line the banks. The wilderness fantasy was spoiled when my cell phone rang, of course. It seemed odd that I had better reception on the river than I have at home.
The only people I encountered on the trip were 4 young guys in two boats. They were blissfully unemployed for the summer and were off on an overnight canoe/camp/fishing trip. I had done the same thing myself many years ago and I'm glad I did. The river is getting lower, but my canoe needs only about 4-6" of water to float me and a beer cooler. I can highly recommend Starr Hill Brewery's Northern Lights IPA for a lazy afternoon canoe trip. My birthday is Saturday and I'm planning to make the trip again that morning. My birithday gift from my mother is a new kayak-style paddle that I hope to get this evening.
The pictures I've posted here instead of wildlife that I saw but didn't photograph yesterday, are two labs that I brought home on Tuesday. Libby is a female yellow lab, about 6 years old. She acts about 6 months old. I have her in the big kennel with Trooper, Thor, and Teddy. She's having a great time with them. The black lab is Sam. He's about 8 years old. Sam is a sweetheart. He's sharing the office with Molly, me, and Lexi. Their owner lost their home due to unemployment and had to move to a rental where the dogs were not allowed. Libby ended up in a shelter, but they held her until I could take her. Sam was being kept outdoors with a friend apparently. Both can jump the dogyard fence, but they aren't interested in running off. Sam likes it indoors. He's too old to have been kept outside in this heat. The 6' kennel fence is containing Libby and she's having a great time with the younger boys in spite of the heat. She's just happy to be out of the shelter and to have some playmates again. They both need homes.
Wednesday was the first decent day we've had in quite a while. The heat finally broke, it was clear, cool, an all around beautiful day. Clay is working from home on Wednesdays throughout the summer so that made for a perfect day for another canoe trip down the Rivanna. We dropped off a car to get an inspection done and then he dropped me and the canoe at the Rt. 600 bridge. Because it was cooler, I did a lot more paddling and less idle drifting and cut an hour off my time from the last trip.
I couldn't lay my hands on my camera as we were heading out the door so I went without it. As I predicted, it was the day I'd see the most wildlife: two deer, including one in the river; two painted turtles, one swimming along the bottom of the river and one sunning himself on a downed tree in the river with neck outstretched as I drifted by, just five feet away; an osprey; and multiple sitings of three Great Blue Herons, with several excellent photo ops. The herons are incredibly beautiful birds. They'd fly off when I got too close, moving a little further down the river. After two or three such moves, they would double back, probably returning to their original fishing spot. Before long, I would encounter another and the pattern would repeat itself. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures, but not having the camera also freed me from worrying about trying to get the pics.
I was free from the tyranny of technology for a few hours that afternoon. It's amazing how remote you can feel on that river. There is no development to speak of and the view is pretty much restricted to the river downstream by the trees that line the banks. The wilderness fantasy was spoiled when my cell phone rang, of course. It seemed odd that I had better reception on the river than I have at home.
The only people I encountered on the trip were 4 young guys in two boats. They were blissfully unemployed for the summer and were off on an overnight canoe/camp/fishing trip. I had done the same thing myself many years ago and I'm glad I did. The river is getting lower, but my canoe needs only about 4-6" of water to float me and a beer cooler. I can highly recommend Starr Hill Brewery's Northern Lights IPA for a lazy afternoon canoe trip. My birthday is Saturday and I'm planning to make the trip again that morning. My birithday gift from my mother is a new kayak-style paddle that I hope to get this evening.
The pictures I've posted here instead of wildlife that I saw but didn't photograph yesterday, are two labs that I brought home on Tuesday. Libby is a female yellow lab, about 6 years old. She acts about 6 months old. I have her in the big kennel with Trooper, Thor, and Teddy. She's having a great time with them. The black lab is Sam. He's about 8 years old. Sam is a sweetheart. He's sharing the office with Molly, me, and Lexi. Their owner lost their home due to unemployment and had to move to a rental where the dogs were not allowed. Libby ended up in a shelter, but they held her until I could take her. Sam was being kept outdoors with a friend apparently. Both can jump the dogyard fence, but they aren't interested in running off. Sam likes it indoors. He's too old to have been kept outside in this heat. The 6' kennel fence is containing Libby and she's having a great time with the younger boys in spite of the heat. She's just happy to be out of the shelter and to have some playmates again. They both need homes.
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