River Reflections

After a busy morning and early afternoon, hitting the river was the perfect solution for relaxation. The water was so calm south of the Biron boat landing, it offered amazing reflections. Above is the paper mill in town that went quiet yesterday, putting about 900 people out of jobs. Eerily quiet to paddle by.

Here's the almost "lake view" I call it, since we don't see much current in the river.

What we did see was some pretty fabulous feathered friends. Yes, my friend Cindy got a picture of me zooming in on this guy...

I kind of feel like he's looking at me, drumming his fingers (er, claws) and saying, "Silly little photographer, I could eat you for lunch!"

But he didn't. Instead he posed pretty nicely for me.

And did you know eagles can swivel their heads backward like owls do? I know now!

Here's another feathered photo op. Do not make fun of his thunder thighs. Those claws attached to the end will silence any of us.

Or he can just take off and that'll silence my shutter for a bit!

Weather was a nice 80 degrees, if that. A nice day for turtles to sun. Look at his hind leg. He's part Godzilla, isn't he?

Cindy enjoying the view.

Jim coasting a bit after the halfway point around the island.

Mike provided the curbside pickup (or end of paddle pickup) for treats.

Blue heron wading in the water a bit.

Hanging out with some sandhill cranes, too!

And she's off! So pretty!

The other two tried to sneak away from me. And pretty much succeeded.

They hide pretty well – like when you play hide-and-seek with a toddler! Still, I decided to leave them alone so we could paddle on. It was pretty much a 3-hour tour today. That's fine. Relaxed pace. Great views and conversations.

How Saturdays should be!