The weather was good today, sunny, warm for the time of year and light breezes. I slept until the sun poked through the clouds and into my room. It seemed like I’d slept in quite late, but it was only 9am. After a few cups of blender grind coffee and some scrambled eggs and toast I was off to take in the last kayak paddle of the ’07 season.
Getting the 17′ Necky out of the cottage and down the stairs single handed was a littel challenging, but not too bad. Locating the paddles that were tucked away in the back corner of the shed behind the sailboat centerboard took longer. After a little boat prep, I’m off for a tour of the bay. What a difference this time of year, very quiet, very few people around, virtually no boats and virtually no wildlife. As I enter the shallow bay just north of our cottage I’m struck with the lack of wildlife. Normally, the bay/swamp is teaming with life but today it’s very quiet. No birds, no ducks, no eagles, no beavers, no otters; very quiet and very still, you feel quite alone.
As I paddle around the bay, most folks have packed up for the season and have put away docks and boats. One cottage has some interesting activity at the dock. A barge, with a bobcat is working. Using some chains hooked to the bucket of the bobcat and around some dock segments, they are lifting the dock out of the water for the winter. Up at the top of our point a crew is busy putting in a new dock with a big deck, which looks very nice.
I took a walk out to the point along the trail and sat in the chair for a few minutes, just enjoying the view and remembering the summer. After that it seemed to be time to pack up and go as the sun is starting to dip, seemingly prematurely at 4:30 in the afternoon and you can feel the chill building as the sun’s warm rays begin to fade away. Washing the dishes from the weekend and re-setting the fireplace seems to take a long time, or is it that I’m making it take a long time, drawing out the last few moments of enjoyment and soaking up that last little but if lake life before heading back to the city. The sun is setting over the lake as I arrive in Kenora. The lake has it’s hold on me as I stop in at HoJo’s for a chai latte and a little internet fix before the drive.
It’s getting dark and the road home is calling. Time to go.