Like this:

Stosh and I decided to explore the South Pond and paddle up into Middle Marsh today.

He stood in the back of the boat like a gondolier. The water isn’t very deep in most places, still I had to ask if he had ever fallen in before.

“Only once,” he said, “but it was the dog that turned over the boat.”

I leaned back to get a shot off at a couple of ducks flying over our heads.

I thought I had my feet solidly anchored. I didn’t. I fell back off the bench and onto my butt.

Stosh nearly fell on top of me. I started laughing.

“What are you doing??” he asked, a little annoyed at me.

“I was trying to get the shot,” I said, like he was the dumb one.

I couldn’t stop laughing. He had to stop the boat and hold my camera so I could haul my ass back up onto the bench.

I got pretty excited when I saw the Beaver’s home off in the distance.

Stosh always lets me pretend that I saw it first when it comes to great discoveries. I point and shout and he just nods his head and says, “Yup.”

Its seems to be a pretty nice place. I wonder if he has a girlfriend?

“Wanna come back to my lodge?”

As we head back, from the lodge looking south you can just barely see the dam on the horizon. That Beaver does some nice work …

Look! The rare Decoy Heron is waiting for us to pull up onto the shore …

I wonder if he is the one that left this feather behind …