One of the springs that flows into Castle Lake trickles down
the near-vertical southwestern rock face. This evening, once the day revelers
left and the sun had set, I rowed out there to take pictures of its pitcher
plants.
Pitcher plants are fascinating, but these pictures were
rather hard won….
I had quietly and deftly steered my canoe to the right spot,
but wishing to get closer and use the macro on the camera, I decided to step
one foot out of the canoe onto the rocks. But since I was barely balanced this
way, I decided to step the other foot also onto the rocks. There, better. I glanced down at the canoe, which was
obediently waiting alongside the rocks at my feet and noted the still water. This
will only take a second, I convinced myself, and turned my attention and lens
to the pitcher plants.
But when has adjusting settings and focusing and framing a
photo only taken a second? By the time I looked up from my camera, I realized
the canoe was ten feet away already, in a part of the lake where the bottom
dropped out immediately from shore. Sh** -- I had lost my boat! I was that
clueless tourist wearing a big camera around my neck, now stranded.
Luckily, my reaction time is pretty fast, and I was already
throwing my camera and glasses to the ground, stripping off my clothes, and
diving into the lake. I didn’t waste the precious seconds to take off my jeans,
though, so I was pretty wet and heavy dragging the canoe back to the rocks. But
I was wearing a grin and I could feel the laughter starting to boil deep inside
me. What a rookie! I do know better, although you probably
don’t believe me now.
Another rookie mistake: The day I arrived at Castle Lake,
Brooke met me up here to show me around. Then we were going to row across the
lake to fetch my belongings. I get into the rowboat first and sit down on the
middle bench. Brooke gives me a sideways look, and gently tells me that I’m backwards. She was probably wondering
who she’d hired! Um, I learn quickly?
How to Move a Couch to the Cabin
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