... after a nice wanderabout in the the late september summer, i drove over to east pond to take chuck up on his offer of a "swim out by the rocks" ... he, ann, bella and myself took the boat over to the other end of the lake, where we enjoyed a nice dip in the cool water ... chuck snapped a picture of me swimming back to the boat ... head's in the high position because i was worried i might scrape my face against one of the submerged boulders ...
... bella, as usual, welcomed me back aboard ...
... this is why east pond is so special to me ...
... with ann's sharp eyes and chuck's skill at the helm, we managed to sneak up on a great blue heron ...
... ardea herodias have wingspans exceeding six feet ...
... herons will eat almost anything that moves that they can fit in their mouths ...
... the combination of light weight and huge wings allows them to lift themselves almost vertically from the marsh's cluttering vegetation ...
... and seemingly without effort they can glide just above the surface of the water ...
... on the way back to the dock chuck pointed out some unusual algae clumps ... this, by the way, the water clarity of almost zero, was why i couldn't see the rocks ...
... bella likes to keep one ear to the breeze ...
... after my swim i went down to mount vernon to cook up supper for c.j. ... i found him playing around with his little toy ... after this he picked up a rock so big the machine tipped, so he asked me to "ride in the front bucket as a counterweight" ... hmmmm, seems every day there's a new experience ...
