Dappled Eclipse Shadows

During the eclipse this morning I was going about business as usual, which means taking my son's dog Kona for a long walk.

I didn't expect to see much of a change in the light. It seemed logical to me that sunlight would spill out all around the moon and still illuminate the atmosphere much like when a cloud passes in front of the sun. I was right. The slight decrease in the brightness of the day wasn't all that impressive.

I DID however notice that the shadows under all the trees looked really weird. All the light shinning through the trees made crescent shaped dappling during the height of the eclipse. I guess it worked much like a home made pin hole camera as suggested by NASA.

Our 40th Anniversary

We spent our 40th wedding anniversary in a manner that so suits our introverted ways. 

Quietly paddling along Lightning Lake in Manning Park. 

The weather was perfect! Neither too hot nor too cold.

We saw numerous water fowl and listened to the enchanting song of a loon. 

Lots of fish were jumping all around us, one directly in front of my kayak. 

Beautiful large blue dragonflies flitting everywhere. 

Sorry, wasn't fast enough to photograph jumping fish and flitting dragonflies!

You'll just have to take my word for it.

You'd think from the photos that we spent most of our anniversary far apart, but that wasn't the case. We were often floating together enjoying the beautiful scenery and the quiet tranquility. 

The PERFECT way to spend a major milestone anniversary!

Bobbing Along

With the purchase of a couple of kayaks our stay-cations just got a lot more fun!

We've been "trying out" kayaks from Western Canoe Kayak in Abbotsford annually for a few years now.

Always something came up that made us postpone the purchase.

But we've finally taken the plunge. Well, not literally; no one has been dumped in the water yet. The kayaks are surprisingly stable.

I'm looking forward to the mini-vacations. There are plenty of small "no motor boat" lakes to explore around here. 

We purchased the kayaks yesterday and today we went to Abbotsford's Mill Lake to get them out for their inaugural run. 

Even in the midst of the city it was peaceful just bobbing along out there.

We didn't have to buy expensive, ugly roof racks for my car either! Both kayaks load quickly and securely into the back of my husband's truck and only require a tie down rope.