An Evening Paddle with the Old Coot

Quick, before I forget I want to tell you the story about my kayak trip today and why I'm enjoying the Berkshires. It all started when I didn't go out to dinner with the 'COWS.

It was exactly 6:38 PM when I made the decision to take the kayak out for a quick paddle. I figured I could get a few hours in before HECOW called to say they had finished dinner. By 6:44 I was changed, had the car loaded and the boat strapped to the roof rack. At 7:00 I pulled into the parking lot at Laurel Lake in Lee, MA (or Lenox, who the hell knows?). As I paddled away from the boat launch, my watch read 7:05 PM.

To the average John Q. Timekeeper, that would tell you from the instant I decided to go out in the boat until I was paddling around the lake was less than half an hour. Where else would you be able to do that? Thank you Berkshire County for your wonderful nature.

Here are some of the pics I took tonight. I started out on a photo shoot of sorts, but once the sun started to drop I realized maybe I should pick up the pace a little.


The first picture is what I saw when I got out of my car in the parking lot. I don't usually like to include pictures of cars, but I really like how my car looks with a kayak or two on the roof, and this one really caught my eye.


This next shot is of a weed I saw growing out of an old, long-dead tree stump. It caught my eye from a ways away so I got in close to get some pictures. I played with some features in Picasa to get the half color, half B&W effect. I'm not sure how well it worked, but I like it.


The last shot is one of the setting sun. I just happened to turn around and caught this sight. Using Picasa, I oversaturated the colors to get this neat effect. I like it better than the original in some respects, so this is how you get it here, Coot Fans.

After this shot I took one more lap around the lake for the sake of exercise. My first lap was a lazy one, so I put the pedal to the metal and did another lap. The second lap was worth it because the mosquitoes were out. Yes, it was a mess to paddle through swarms of hungry mosquitoes, but it was neat to see the fish surface to catch them. The dragonflies were also out, zipping about grazing on the mosquito bounty.

So there you have it. Now I must take to the shower, then off to bed. I have a long day of running, dessert making and rib eating so I'll need my rest. I'll holler at y'all later.

Over and Out,
Old Coot