Michelle and Ben have a friend whose family owns a terrific hardware store in a small town not too far from our house. On Saturday, the family had a celebration to honor seven years of serving the community. There were hotdogs, sodas, and chips….free! There also was a clown and activities for little children. A fun day was planned!
Michelle and Ben were invited by their friend, Casey, so they were excited to attend. We picked up their friend, Jacob, on the way. When we arrived, the festivities were under way and everyone was enjoying themselves. Mark and I sat in the shade of a beautiful Ash tree and a stiff breeze was welcome through the open windows of the truck. We sat for quite a while, then I got out and asked Michelle how long the kids planned to stay. She said they wanted to linger for an hour or so, so Mark and I decided to go for a ride. The thermometer in the truck was reading 95 degrees, which translates to 35 degrees, Celsius. Add humidity to this temperature, and one can see it was uncomfortable!
As Mark and I were leaving the party, so were a couple of customers. The hardware store is located in a an area with a large Mennonite population and many of the families use horse and buggy to get around. I managed to get a couple of “parting shots”….
Mark and I went on up to Canandaigua and almost as soon as we arrived, Michelle called to say that she wasn’t feeling well…at all! Mark and I hurried back to pick the kids up and Michelle was clearly overheated. We had packed our inflatable kayaks in the back of the truck, thinking we could paddle a bit on the way home, but we took Michelle home.
As soon as Michelle was home, she plopped on her bed and rested with a fan directed on her. After a short time, she said she was feeling better. She asked if we would get her a sub for dinner, so we (very relieved she was hungry) headed down to Naples to get her one. Ben and I thought maybe we could paddle a little in the kayaks, but when we passed through Woodville, there was no Eagle in sight. I had wanted to go out because I had seen the bird sitting in “its” tree earlier in the day.
We picked up a sub for Michelle, then made our way back toward home. We decided to take another look in Woodville and to my surprise, there was an Eagle in the tree! Ben and I went out for a very short paddle to visit the Eagle.
I took (over 100) photos of the bird and then we paddled back to shore. Even with the breeze on the lake, it was just too warm with our life vests on! You will notice in the photos that the Eagle has its wings spread a bit and its beak open….this is indicative of the heat, also. The bird was actually panting! They spread their wings to cool off a bit, too.
Funny….even after seeing the Eagles up fairly close….I’d say within about twenty-five feet, it is still so exciting to be able to see these birds! I still feel so excited, I need to settle down a bit to photograph them. Last year, I was able to capture an adult as well as a younger bird as they sat together. I wish I could get a shot of several of them together, but it seems they almost take turns sitting there! Don’t worry, I’m not greedy…I am just so happy to get these photos! And also happy for inflatable kayaks…
