Yes, I was in a pretty campsite overlooking a lake. Yes, the park was in the town of Marshall (I get a kick out of that, OK?), IL.
But I was miserable. Hot, sweaty, bug-bit, just f**king miserable. The AC turned up full wasn’t even cutting the heat, and it had dripped, soaking my sheet and one of my couch cushions. That’s how I went to sleep last night. I was ready to throw in the towel.
Oddly, I woke pretty early—6:30-ish—so I thought “What the hell, I’ll go out in the kayak.” Fed Moe, grabbed some o.j. and a handful of trail mix, and headed to the boat launch.
On the lake, there was a nice breeze, and the sun was still low enough that I could stay in the shade by hugging the shore. I fell into my usual rhythm of paddling smoothly along, then gliding silently into the many little coves and inlets. That’s where you see all the good stuff, like this deer:
The first deer I saw stared at me in surprise as I rounded a corner, but bolted off before I could get a picture. The second was busy foraging and didn’t notice me at first. When it finally did, it startled up the hill, coughing its hoarse alarm cry.
Passed a dad and his kids fishing off a dock. Kids always get a kick out of Moe lounging on the bow of the boat. I dipped into another byway, and ran across something I hadn’t expected—a swan!
There were dog roses, Indian paint brushes, and black-eyed Susans blooming along the water’s edge, and something that looked like a “hop tree.” Also a shrub with white “puffball” flowers (bees like them). A great blue heron let me get really close before it took off with a prehistoric “kronk.” And a lone Canada goose watched me suspiciously, but didn’t fly off, as I glided dangerously close to some floating duck weed to get a better look.
What I didn’t get pictures of: a baby raccoon tiptoeing along the water’s edge, looking for yummies. He fled into the vegetation before I could raise my phone. And a young muskrat gliding along in the shallows, who quickly about-faced and disappeared into his mudbank burrow.
Sigh. I love kayaking.