Medical Lake in the Moon Light

Tonight I took off from the house at around 10:30pm and drove out to Medical Lake just as the big red moon was coming over the horizon. Once I got there, I unloaded my kayak from the top of the car and went for a moon light paddle around the lake (Walter had to stay home this time; he does not fit in the kayak with me). This is one of my favorite places to paddle in the dark. My other favorite is Fishtrap Lake. It is not a very big lake, but it is pretty cool at night. The west side of the lake is tree covered and there is a surprising amount of wildlife there. As I was unloading my kayak, a deer came out of the reeds by the lake and walked up the middle of the road, jumped over a fence, and headed straight towards an apple tree next to someone's house. I watched him crane his neck up and pull the apples off, along with several branches. This was right in the middle of town.

This was my first paddle of the year, and last year I did not kayak at all, and I only took my canoe out a couple of times. Most summers I have the boat on top of my car from April until November and I am out several times a week. I don't know what happened last summer. It was probably because of school. It is a bummer that I can't take Walter with me. I used to have a big tandem kayak that had movable seats and I could paddle in the middle and stick a dog in the bow. This was before Walter was even a glimmer in his daddy Jolly's eyes, but I used to take his mom Ruby with me. Unfortunately that boat was sold with the plan of getting a better one. Evidently I needed the money for something else and have not replaced it. I have a big 19 foot canoe but it is way too big for me to paddle myself, especially when the wind is blowing. Eventually I will get another one that is fit for my canine buddys.

I like to paddle clockwise around Medical Lake. I stay pretty close to the shore on the west side. I have been out there before and scared up flocks of sleeping ducks. Actually, they have scared me, and one time I disturbed a heron. The moon was a few days past full and still very bright (I think it would be called a waning gibbous). I could see pretty well. The water was warmer than the air and about ten minutes after I put in a mist started to form on top of the water. Around on the other side of the lake are houses and I always feel pretty sneaky paddling past them in the dark. At one of the houses, a man was outside with his three dogs and they started barking at me. I don't think he could see me but could probably hear my paddles hitting the water. He kept looking and looking, but I did not say anything. It made me laugh and I felt invisible.