Clearing my head

Yesterday one of my very special friends took me down to one of my favorite parks, put me in a kayak, showed me how to paddle it, and shoved me off into the wild blue yonder.

The weather was stunningly beautiful, the water was glass-calm, and the experience was magical. I was out paddling for nearly an hour when I realized that I wasn't thinking about any of the stressors I have going on in my life right now, all I was thinking about was 'wow - what an amazing experience!'
I paddled upstream a ways, saw lots of ducks, a beaver, several Great Blue Herons and also several Great Egrets all doing their thing out there.

Herons are a skittish bunch, and I know from experience that they don't like to have round things pointed at them. I stopped paddling and just drifted with the slow current, as still as I could be while trying to capture images with my little point-and-shoot. The heron watched me the whole time and when I got too close, he took to the air again, squawking like a pterodactyl, to find another, more private perch.

The white dot on the snag is a Great Egret. Also very skittish about being photographed, or even sighted in on... next time I'll take a higher-res camera and a long lens. I don't expect it will help me get any closer to them, but I may be able to capture some higher-quality images to share with you.

Amazingly, this was my first experience in a kayak, and now I'm hooked! I'm looking for a kayak of my very own, preferrably one that will accomodate my sweet doggie too. I think she'd have a great time out there with me.

Reminder - time is getting short to get your Sweetheart Portraits done... call me today to set up your private session!