Swimming

Yesterday N and I had our kayaking lesson at the metro park pool just outside Oberlin. Most of the stuff was a little too beginnerish for us but there was some helpful stuff about strokes and turns. There were 6 of us students and 2 instructors. Ages ranged from the mid-40's to lower-80's - we were in the middle of that group. The class started with everyone rolling their boats and escaping the cockpit - that means we got wet and proved that we weren't going to drown. I figure that was the last time I want to exit the kayak except onto dry land. Another amusing point was when we played "follow the leader" around the pond. I think it was to have fun practicing maneuvering. However it rapidly turned into bumper boats. All in all a good experience and I'm sure we'll feel more confident in our boats.

Strong storm passed just south of us this afternoon which means we are still hot and muggy and the ground is dry. Haven't mowed in almost a month.

White Squirrel is becoming a regular at our feeders. Seems to prefer the mornings. We watch it as we and it eat breakfast.

Addendum: Tonight N and I kayaked again at Findley State Park. Again we thought it would be just a quiet paddle for exercise and it turned out to be a wildlife event. Greate Blue Herons (of course, we chased them around the lake), Green Herons, Carp (big, big carp that were wallowing on their sides in shallow water and then exploded in escape almost running into our boats), Kingfishers, and, as we were docking in the rapidly oncoming darkness, a small watersnake that beat us to the dock.

And in the darkness as we tied the kayaks to the top of the CRV a V of geese honked their way over the lake past us. A complete evening. Time to give the kayaks a rest and to start traveling again - summer road trip number 3.