I was awake at 0530 hrs this morning. It was too hot to sleep anyway, and I do love the morning light. So, by 0615 hrs, I was out paddling. Today, I headed in the opposite direction, south…. I think. Such a beautiful day! The early morning sun was turning everything golden.

I stopped paddling to listen to the quiet. It’s awesome. However, I was soon shocked out of my reverie by a loon that sounded like he must be about to land on top of me. I ducked and practically dropped my paddle. But I couldn’t see him anywhere. Then, all of a sudden he surfaced about 15 feet away from me. I scrambled to get my camera out, hoping he wouldn’t dive when he saw me.