on a quiet lake somewhere

We took our little boat and went fishing this evening. Calvin and Starflower were both sleeping over at friends' houses, so it was just the three of us, me, The Hermit, and Mr. Attitude. Hermit and I both independently came up with the idea of going fishing...once in a great while, our minds work together like that. The 25 horsepower Evinrude hadn't been run in...oh gosh, had it been two years?...but it started up right away.

So we were off to a little lake about fifteen miles away from home. This lake is surrounded by state forest land, so there are no docks, no "look at me" lake homes, no Jet Skis. Just a nice boat ramp, and some wildlife.


This Common loon picked a nice lake for the nest it undoubtedly has somewhere in the sedges.



Can you tell Mr. Attitude was absolutely thrilled? No big brother or sister to boss him around, and hey, we're cruising around in a boat!!!



Of course, fishing was on the agenda. Mr. Attitude's (or was it The Hermit's?) first cast was immediately hit on by a whopper (okay, six inch) bluegill sunfish.



I think he landed a total of eight. The Hermit tied on a crankbait for me and I tried bass fishing for a while, with no luck other than I got hooked on a very stubborn waterlily.

Actually, I was distracted and spent most of my time looking into the bog-stained water at the amazing diversity of vegetation present. I've been focusing on aquatic vegetation in my job lately, and I guess it has me fascinated enough that it leaks into my personal life. I was making comments like "Oh, there's a nice stand of Nuttall's pondweed!" I've become an aquabotanical nerd.



Nerd or not, I think we all had a good time. Although I can't help but think how small our boat seems. It's a 14 foot Bass Tracker, but I've grown accustomed to working in 16 or 18 foot boats. This boat is just right for two adults, but add one kid and we're already feeling cramped. The Hermit bought a lottery ticket tonight, so if we win, a family-size boat may be in order.

As we fished, we were serenaded by at least two hermit thrushes and a few veeries in the woods around the shore. Beautiful, flutelike calls from both.

And the bluegills...they found a new home, and it was not the frying pan. Maybe they'll help take care of the leech problem. ;)