Rainy Day

I'm back from the river a little earlier than expected. About two hours after I splashed into the water, the sky threatened to open up and unleash it's relentless furry upon my head. Although my grandmother swears shit doesn't melt in the rain and I would be fine, my camera doesn't like water. So in my defense, I decided to turn in early and spare my electronics.

I had to wait a few minutes to get into the water because some state biologists were SCUBA diving in the area. Talking to a friendly lady on the bank who described herself as a "Biologist Assistant" when I asked her profession, she told me they were looking for rare freshwater clams. My blog being so new, I didn't ask for an interview or even to take some pictures, so that is all I know.

Lucky devils, those guys. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up but at the moment I have decided on Marine Ecology. Evidenced by this blog, I love the water and would love to get paid to do pretty much what I am doing now. Playing in the water.

Every time I go kayaking on the Rivanna, I come back with a boatload of trash. Enjoy your 40s people, but don't toss them in the river! For June, the trash theme was PBR 40 ounce bottles. It seems Old English is the choice for July. Still 40s. Why is it always bad beer? Maybe that's why they are in the river...Still, that is no excuse. No matter how bad the beer tastes, don't pitch it in the river. There are trash cans placed conveniently all along the river. It dumbfounds me that people can't hold on to their empties until they stumble across one of these. Seems these guys are following the logic of my Company Commander in bootcamp. "What do you do when you finish a 40? Get another 40!"

The fish are growing and I saw several big uns swimming around. Fish are very camera shy, so unfortunately I didn't get their pictures today. Nothing compares to the photophobia of turtles, though. Bigfoot is easier to get a picture of than any turtle. Even the smallest babies that shouldn't know yet not to have their photo taken dive to the depths just before I snap the picture, leaving me with a shot of an empty log or bare rock. At least they let me get the camera to my eye. Adults are gone before I can get into range and start thinking of picking up the camera. I have theorized they have some sort of telepathetic powers that I refer to as Turtlepathy. They have electromagnetic sensory nerves in their noses that enable them to hone in on the camera. Sneaky, very sneaky indeed.

Sometimes I get so consumed with looking under the water that I forget there is a whole different world to pay attention to above the water line. As I was paddling under a low tree branch to pick up a soda bottle from the shore line a young red-shouldered hawk startled me as it launched from the branch just over my head and dropped a small clam it was eating. The bird landed on another branch further up the bank before taking off and fleeing deeper into the woods and out of sight. None of the frantic pictures I snapped turned out. I've got to get a better camera!

That's really all I can say about today's trip. The water level was low, but not too bad and extremely calm in most parts. Visibility was incredible, allowing me to see the bottom in places I have never been able to before. Must have been good diving for those biologists.

I took some pictures today, but for some reason I can't open the link to post them. Hopefully that will get fixed soon and I will be able to show you what I'm talking about. Maybe it won't be so confusing then.

Fair winds and following seas.