I started off with a paddle around the entire lake. I'd never done that before. You kind of have to do it first thing in the morning, because the wind seems to pick up as the day goes on. When I went out, the lake was so smooth that my stepping into it made ripples that seemed to go halfway across the surface. Once I was out on the lake, I immediately had a sense of well-being, the feeling this place always brings me, bad weather or not.
My Favorite Fifteen of the day happened early, on this paddle. Once I'd looped around toward the middle of the lake, I saw 3 loons. I will here admit to being big loon fan. I love their calls and I love watching them in the water. I'd never seen 3 together before, so I stopped paddling and watched as they swam, flapped their wings and then dove, first one and then the other two.
If you don't know loons, they dive for fish and can swim underwater for a good amount of time and distance. Typically, once they go down they are gone for about a minute and then pop up somewhere completely different, sometimes out of my field of vision. So you play a little mental game, guessing where they'll pop up.
We saw them again near the house later, but I then paddled the rest of the way around the lake. It was raining lightly, so I didn't feel like cycling, so I took my raincoat and headed for a walk around the lake. My Favorite Fifteen the first evening here, when the weather was miserable, was on my walk. If I go clockwise from where we're staying, I walk for about 20 minutes and see nothing but houses and trees, and then at one magical point, the houses are done and you see Mirror Lake, reflecting the town and its evening lights. It's always my favorite moment on this walk, which I do almost every day when I'm here, regardless of the weather.
It's always beautiful, but I was so looking forward to being here and the weather had been so awful (and it still wasn't very nice out) that the sight filled my heart with joy. I was here. Ahhh.
As for the rest of yesterday, it was fine considering the weather. After I'd walked around, I did a bit of reading and writing. Went to the supermarket. That kind of stuff. I even did a bit of schoolwork.
We had dinner at a small lakeside restaurant. It was stormy and windy out, and we were right by the window. It was magnificent. Until we had to go back to the car, but what can you do?
Then an evening of watching the Olympics and that was Tuesday. Now the sun has come out and it's almost hot. Think I'll go for a swim.
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