Free-Range Jack

On our July camping trip to northeast Wisconsin, there was one campsite between us and the boat landing. That meant we could hear the variety of activity which took place at that location. The activity varied from swimmers, to fishing, to persons putting in or taking out water craft.  We, ourselves, most of the time took the kayak to and from the boat landing to make it easier to put in since there was not good spot along or closer to our campsite.  The main activity at that boat landing involved two boys, perhaps 7 and 9 years of age who fished there in various parts of the day. These two boys were never accompanied by an adult so they were what we in the planning world called free-range children.

These two boys would fish from the pier.  They could be seen or heard at the boat landing in the morning, afternoon, evening, and even past sunset dark. I never saw them swim. But I did see one jump in the water at the boat landing, and he quickly found out it was deeper than he thought-like up to his waist. They camped on our loop, but near the other end, and they either walked or biked to fish. I think they walked more often than biked, probably because they found walking easier to carry their fishing poles. They never had a tackle box. They fished from the boat landing on the lake the campground is located, and they fished, by biking to the boat landing for a different lake at which the swim beach is located.  I am not sure they ever caught much. the fish in the campground lake are plentiful but very small, at least what a Forest Service fishery technician told me in June.  One day Land Girl and I took the kayak to the boat landing on the campground lake, just a site away from our campsite, so Land Girl could kayak. The two boys were fishing at the time. As Land Girl, who now became a Water Girl (as she was in the kayak), paddled out into the deep blue sea, or in this case a beautifully clear lake with a depth of about 22 feet, I struck up a conversation with the two boys.

Water Girl out kayaking, photo from boat landing

One of the boys was from nearby Armstrong Creek, about 8 miles from the campground, and the other from Fence, which is north of Armstrong Creek. The one from Fence, was quick to point out that was originally from Armstrong Creek.  Perhaps in northeast Wisconsin one has more credibility being from Armstrong Creek, than from Fence. This may be because Armstrong Creek has more than one gas station.  Land Girl and I drove through Fence in June, and we almost blinked to miss it, but I think Fence may have a small convenience store and a town hall. Neither community is incorporated. I think they boys were cousins, or perhaps simply friends.  They camped at the same campsite.  The funny thing is I never saw and adult with them outside of their campsite, so in that sense they were clearly free-range children.  I can picture many suburban moms going crazy at the idea of two young boys hanging around a lake together, without any sort of supervision.  There are suburban helicopter parents who would not let their child go alone to a friends house a block over, much less hang out along a lake.  I thought it was rather nice to see some free-range kids.

Bull frog near the boat landing

One evening, we had finished dinner and we saw the two boys riding their bikes to the boat landing fishing gear in hand.  Running along side, with his legs pumping as hard and fast as possible, and stride as long as he could make it to keep up, was a boy, perhaps aged three, but certainly no more than four, and perhaps even younger than three.  The thing is he had the biggest grin on his face, like he was so happy to be out from under the parents and doing stuff with the big (older) boys. One could not write how happy this little boy looked. They referred to this boy as Jack.  I think Jack was happy as pie, or punch.  Still unaccompanied by a parent or older child, the boys made their way to the boat landing. Now a three year old, at a lake without a parent is perhaps, in many persons estimation too much free-range. I know it would be in mine. Certainly this would be the case to a suburban helicopter mom and dad. But, here it was three boys, who I surmise to all have had ages in the single digits, off at the boat landing and the nearest competent adult, unknown to them both, was a red headed retired nurse. This former school nurse seemed to agree with my interpretation of age.

Eagle in a tree near boat landing

It was not too much later, after their arrival at the boat landing, that we heard some talking and Jack's name being used.  We could not really make out was being said, but the impression was that not everything was alright, and it involved Jack.  As the second most competent adult nearby, I wondered if I should make a way to the boat landing to check on the situation. At that point I saw one of the boys riding his bike from the boat launch and I assumed going back to their campsite.  A few minutes later, he is biking back to the boat landing and yelling: "Jack's Mom says he as to go back."  He arrived at the boat landing, and their was further discussion, and after awhile we could see all three boys, with Jack lopping along, with much less enthusiasm than a half hour earlier, on their way back to their campsite. Jack did not look wet, like he fell in the water, so perhaps he had a potty accident. Or, it could be that one of the older boys egged him into trouble. Jack's sour puss, as my mom used to say, told a tale quite different than the joy-filled look he had as he headed to the boat landing.

The next day, as I went to get more water, I could see the older boys were gone, but Jack was still there, likely with his father.  the minivan was gone, but the pickup was still present. We later saw Jack and the man coming back from the boat landing. Poor Jack, his effort at being free-range did not last long, but that large smile he had on this short adventure and sense of joy as he made his way to the boat landing was a sight to behold.  It showed how much younger boys like to be liked by the older boys, like he belonged and was not longer just a baby. I hope that Jack takes and holds that level of joy as he headed to the boat landing as his main takeaway over the more dour and sour expression as he made his way back to the campsite, at the demand of his mother. 

Free-range children are increasingly difficult to find in today's world, and while having Jack at the lake with two other young boys may seem to push the boundary of free-range children, it was the choice made by the parents. Fortunately, they did not seem to need the service of a trained nurse.  Perhaps children are becoming more free-range than what I provide credit for.  Just this morning, I saw to young children, perhaps younger than the two boys in this story, heading home along our street. I am glad to see that the free-range children still roam the streets of McFarland, and the shores of lakes in northeast Wisconsin. As for Jack, his free-range adventure with the older boys was short, and perhaps someday he will be able to enjoy his own adventures at the boat landing.

Ashen Sky

Last week Sunday, July 18, the Land Girl (my soon to be seasoned citizen wife) and I departed for a five night camping trip to northeast Wisconsin.  As we headed north on a cloudless day, the sky became more and more gray, but it was not clouds that gave this dreary color, but rather ash from the western forest fires. It made for a haze, but a rather brilliant moon and sunset that night. I guess an ash colored sky is appropriate when derived from forest fire particulates. It was not humid, so I could not relate the sky to a haze due to water vapor. However, humor or beauty can be found in many things--activities of people, words of the young, the flora and fauna, and in the landscape itself.

Our lakeside campsite

The long range forecast, for the area, on Thursday was mostly sunny for with highs in the low to mid 80's.  The long range forecast changed and by Saturday there were a few days of rain predicted, along with cooler temperatures. We had a few days where the temperature never got above about 72, and one night it was as cold as 45. But, this is not unusual for weather in northern Wisconsin. One night, the wind gusts, off the lake, which was generally to the east, were picking up our screen tent and so I had to stake it to the ground. The next day, following the evening of strong wind, the sky was closer to a  typical sky blue. The beauty of a baby blue sky was  sight to behold after a few days of an ashen gray.

Shrine to St Hubert
northeast of Goodman, WI

What I learned about those who camp there on this trip was that many of the campers are from the area.  One couple next to us was within 20 minutes, and a couple across within about 45 minutes.  It is heavily used by "locals."  I found this out on a prior trip when our favorite campsite was occupied.  There were people in chairs, and a couple vehicles, but no tents or campers, so I asked if they were packing up to move out that day, and they said they were there for the week.  That Sunday night, I kayaked by the site and it was vacant.  I think they "camped" out at the site for day use.  The ranger only comes a couple times a week, and the I doubt the camp host, if he knew what was going on, would get confrontational.  The camp host does not, from what I understand, know who pays what fee and when. This past trip, Thursday morning, about 8:45 am, a couple pulled in a dropped their pop-up at a site and left.  The site is supposed to be occupied the first night, but they did not do that.  Nor do many who reserve a site for a few or more days, and not show up the first day. By rights, that site should be available on first come first serve basis. 

Leaft at Piers Gorge

We found that the rules are enforced in some respects.  An elderly couple, perhaps about my wife's age, since she will be a senior citizen this coming month, grabbed an unused but reservable site on Tuesday.  Wednesday I noticed a placard about the reservation noting it was reserved for Friday to Sunday. The placard was not there earlier in the day Wednesday, or even Tuesday.  I asked the couple how long they planned to stay and they said Sunday.  I noted the placard having a reservation on the site for the weekend.  Long and short, they talked to the camp host, who said they had to move. The funny thing is the placard was dropped off Wednesday by the forest service, and the last day they were there was Saturday. One cannot reserve a site for the first four days. For example I could not reserve a site on July 26 for the next four nights.  Since they arrived Tuesday, the site had to have been reserved on Monday at the latest, and if the placard was placed Tuesday morning they would not have had that problem. Hence, they moved their site Wednesday morning. 

Loon

Of course, not all is exact for rule following as noted earlier. A site is not to be occupied for more than fourteen consecutive days, but a former camp host was on her third week. She must have gotten special permission.  I guess it depends on who you know.

If you could not find the inch worm earlier, here it
is again, with my wife's blue polar fleece just behind it

We found out on this trip that the best sites, lake front sites, are mainly gone by 1:00 pm. Check out time is noon. Which of course some do not follow. Our first trip to this campground, nearly 20 years ago, we arrived on a Thursday, and no lake site was available, so we choose a non lake site.  By noon on Sunday our loop was empty but for the camp host and us.  A few campers moved in later that day, but not many. Times have changed as it is now rather crowded.

Prayer of the Woods at St Hubert Shrine

With crowds come noise, which is not so bad, except for generators.  The big rigs pretty much all use generators, and a few years ago I contacted the Nicolet Forest Service suggesting they place a time frame on generator operation, but I never heard back. Between the rigs the generators can run from mid morning to about 9:00 pm at night. One person had a generator so loud, that even people who had generators did not like all the noise. The couple who had to move, had a rig, slightly larger than ours, and had a generator, but they had a home made sound attenuation cabinet which dampened the noise. I doubt  a decibel level would work, because no one would be around to enforce it. With more people comes more noise and activity. Noise associated with common camping activities makes sense, but to me a generator goes beyond normal. 

People Rafting at Piers Gorge

The beach at the nearby lake is also much more busy. Flooding at a large nearby lake over the past three years or more had driven activity from that beach, which had its beach and parking lot flooded out, to this small beach. I think many still come. Of course the noise and activity produced can also provide some entertainment. I believe it was Monday night when there were two cars from Illinois at the parking lot. The beach was noisy and heavily occupied by many of our Friendly Illinois Brethern (FIB). It was amusing to listen as two female FIB's headed out in kayaks. Once beyond, and I mean just beyond the swim area buoys, one lady immediately started complaining. It was like this adult woman was a preteen but worse.  "My arms are tired, let's go back!"  "How do you do this?" "I keep going in circles."  My arms are tired, this isn't fun." "My arms are tired." She could not have been more than 2 yards from shore. Too bad the four floating females were not on the lake at the same time, I would have really gotten some good laughs. For the record, as I watched her, you could see she was not going in circles, perhaps veering one direction or the other, but not in circles.  The other ;lady simply commented, to dip one side in and then the other.  I decided to not watch the outcome and went back to the campsite. Two nights later our FIB showed up again, but with a a third vehicle. They were about to sit down to eat at 7:30 pm, and as I walked by the car in a parking lot, a lady was getting some stuff out of the back, and the whole back of the Honda minivan was packed with paper products, soda pop and other such accouterments. I think she was getting more paper plates.

Bullfrog

One never knows what they will get at the beach. Later in the week there were some kids, with parents at the beach. A boy, about two, was in the water with his dad and sister. The mom was on shore. The boy started to walk to the shore, but stopped in water perhaps up just above his knees and loudly proclaimed: "I have to go pee."  The mom asked the boy to come out of the water and she would take him to the potty.  He then asked "Can't I pee in the weeds?" Mom: "No." He then demanded, "Can't I pee in the water?" "No," says the mom, "get out and I will show you where you can pee."  My wife, really enjoyed this exchange. Contrast this, with the inch worm slowly making its way up a thin strand to the fir tree. Poor Archer did not wish to interrupt his water time.

Center of photo is inch worm, seemingly suspended 
in mid-air

Even with the ashen sky and tempered sunlight, the trip was still nice, and the lake water clear and refreshing, except when swimming when it is 50 degrees and then it is warmer than the air temperature.  We took a day trip to Piers Gorge, where we rafted three years ago, which you can read about here. The water was much lower, as one rafting party of the three we say got stuck right before the large drop. It was interesting to get a different perspective on the situation. A few days later we went to find a shrine another camper had told us about, and it was quite the adventure. Most of the trip, but for about a 1/3 mile, was on a trail, with large boulders with large cobbles of say four inch and above rocks plentiful on the route. It would not have been possible with anything less than a four wheel drive that has good clearance. Like a Jeep. The shrine was a nice visit, and a testament to a now fleeting faith among the population. The man who told us about the shrine, was the person who had to relocate his site, and he said the back story was about hunters who were lost, and prayed for assistance, and they came across a small stream. This may be a rural legend, as the story at the shrine is that hunter's used to gather and pray for health and safety and after the day to give thanks. These small shrines are scattered in varied places around the state and represent a part of our history and lore. 

About to bloom water lily
We had our own real life version of the Monet painting

One can find enjoyment in the lady from Illinois not liking to kayak (she must be a real urban girl), or in the scenes of nature presented by a landscape sculpted by the power of water (Piers Gorge), and wildlife (loons, eagles and bull frogs).  But is also found in the flora of wildflowers, or fallen tree leaves (yes already) in a deep red or vibrant yellow. There were also the human interactions with the environment as shown by the shrine in a desolate location at least four miles from the nearest paved road. The ashen sky may be a reminder of the power of nature due to its cause by wildfires (which can have a beneficial effect to the landscape over time) well distant from our location, but being out in nature we can see the beauty, elegance, and the resiliency of mother earth. It is our connection to mother earth, a gift freely given by God, and the beauty and wonders it represents, that is foundational to a proper land ethic.  The ashen colored sky tells part of the story of the need to respect nature. 

If we approach nature and the environment without…openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.
--Pope Francis, "Laudato Si." 2015

The Secretary

There is a saying that goes, if you want to know what is going on in an office, ask the secretary.  Of course, for the few past decades, such positions are often referred to as Administrative Assistants, or some similar term. A secretary is often an unsung hero in an office situation. They keep the boss, and others, on track, and often have to find information or documents deeply buried in files, which may now be electronic. In the electronic environment of today, they may be the most tech savvy individuals in an office, save perhaps, just perhaps, those in the IT department. Confidential administrative assistants know as much, if not more, than their supervisor. My wife, has taken on the roll of secretary, albeit maybe reluctantly, in our household. To say that she likes the roll, would be an overstatement.

My wife pays the bills, makes lists of what needs to be done, kept the kids and me in line and on time, and makes more lists. She generally keeps her many to-do lists of what we need for groceries or other supplies. Not to mention her lists of what are in the freezer. She needs a list of her lists, or perhaps a spreadsheet to let her know where all her lists are located.  I doubt I could find someone who likes lists more than she does. Her favorite saying to our two boys, when they needed something for school, sports or whatever, was "Who do you think I am, your secretary?" I would be at work early some morning, and would receive a call, about the most recent fire drill, like something one of them needed for school that day and forgot to mention. There used to be a running joke between her and one of my employees, that my wife kept in me in line while home, and the employee did the same while I was at work. It is not as if I am accident prone.

Regardless, of all of her lists and acumen with numbers, and the like she has happened upon a situation that now taxed all her secretarial skills.  As she will soon turn 65 she has signed up for medicare, and has taken on a supplement plan and drug coverage plan. All of the paper work has now arrived and she finds herself having to take care of all of the paper work, not to mention having to go to the bank web site, the provider sites, or whatever, to allow for the required payments. Websites certainly don't make it easy.  She needed chat assistance as to how to set up a direct payment for one account. I am not sure, but I think IT people go to school on how not to set up a website to make something easy. Why it takes so much work to set up something to pay someone is hard to fathom. It is almost like they want you to do it the old fashioned way. By check. For example, to pay vehicle registration online one has to pay a surcharge.  There is not a surcharge for sending it in via US mail, so that is the way I prefer to work the payment. In any event, the wife was getting rather frustrated, and, I believe, her patience was challenged. I suggested that the secretary needs a secretary.  I don't recall any smart a@# comeback, which shows how engaged she was in her secretarial work on these items.

As she was struggling through the paperwork, she said that when I turn 65 she will make sure I do it all myself.  However, she has made it easier for me since we have now gone through the studies of the different plans and the options they provide.  It pays to marry someone older than you. She once made me pay all the bills for a month or two by our online method, so I will know how to do it.  Of course, the bank has merged with other banks, and as a result changed its name and then its electronic systems since I last did this, so now everything is probably different. As she reads this she will come to think it is time for me to be retrained. 

The oddities and challenges posed by medicare and its multiple varied parts, the hunt for advantage or supplemental plans (and hoping you make the right choice), and setting up online payments all pose challenges to a near 65 year old. I am not sure, but I think there is some irony that these challenges hit a person at retirement when they are trying to take things easy, and not get stressed. Hence, why my secretary needed a secretary.  They may have been able to help navigate the varied web sites. For secretaries are often quite good at putting out fires, as my wife did with the kids. Of course, sometimes they like to put fuel onto the fire. If she, the household secretary found this disagreeable, I wonder how I will handle the paperwork and payments.   

Unwanted Legacy

Many people desire to leave a legacy. Some legacies, whether or good or bad, are well deserved. Some are not. History will judge the legacy of a person.  Legacies can, however, go beyond an individual person. They can be related to collective actions from the past. What is happening in some Dane County streams is a multi-year project to remove a legacy of our collective past--silt, or more appropriately, muck, laden with phosphorus. Sediment, particularly when laden with pollutants, is not a good legacy. Sediment comes with runoff from farm fields, construction sites, and where ever soil is exposed.  Phosphorus was in many products for a long time, particularly in cleaning products and fertilizers.  The chemical was banned in many fertilizers and home care products but is still present in muck located in the streams, rivers and lakes of Dane County, and many other communities. Phosphorous sticks to particles of soil, and the use of the chemical, combined with erosion one can see a great deal of pollutant loaded silt in varied waterways. The "Suck the Muck" campaign is being used in Dane County to remove some of the phosphorus laden sediments in the waterways. This will hopefully lead to cleaner water.

Heavy equipment along Yahara River, just upstream of 
Lower Mud Lake.  Part of the piping to be used is to left 
of the equipment

For many years attempts have been made to clean our surface waters.  In the late 1980's detention ponds were put in place for new developments to hold back storm water to help reduce flooding, but to also potentially settle some sediments. Several years later water quality ponds were required for new developments. In many cases, cities and villages have also installed more community wide ponds and facilities to treat the storm water from developments that predated the requirements. These ponds are called wet ponds because they contain water, with the idea that the ponds better hold back pollutants. The water that leaves the ponds would, presumably, become cleaner.  For over 30 years I have been kayaking or canoeing on Mud Lake and Lake Kegonsa, and at times Lake Waubesa, but have yet to see any improvement in water quality. The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) has worked with many partners on a program called Yahara WINS, to better remove some phosphorous in dairy waste. 

This fellow can stand on the algae accumulation.
People are not as fortunate.

While programs can attend to the urban and suburban, non-point source, such as agriculture, is more difficult to control and regulators and politicians often lack the desire to place controls on non-point sources.  Part of Yahara WINS, and other programs, is undertaking seeding of cover crops, generally in the fall, on fields to hold back sediment for the fall through spring. There are programs that pay farmers to place buffer strips along water ways. Part of me wonders if the old conservation practices of the 1970's have gone away with the large equipment now used to farm. Many point source polluters are, I believe, doing their fair share, and maybe, just maybe, picking up part of the share from non-point source polluters.  It is easier for DNR and other agencies to go after point source than non-point source polluters.

Dredging barge, it is listing as much as Kevin
Wenstob's barge on Netflix's "Big Timber"

That is not to say all point source polluters do a good job, many a construction sites lack proper erosion control.  I noticed this a couple years ago for the school construction projects in the McFarland School District.  It was hard getting anyone to take responsibility for the sediment.  At one point the contractor emptied a rain garden under construction (which is to help infiltrate water) onto pavement which sent the silt laden water to the street storm sewer. 

Outlet of Barge

The next tool, or program to reduce pollutant loading is to suck the muck, some of these sediments which contain phosphorus and other pollutants were deposited long ago. Although it would not surprise me if some of sediment from the schools is in the top layer.  The idea is that the phosphorus is the main contributor to the algae and growth of lake weeds that inhibit use of the lakes and streams for fishing, swimming and other recreational activities. MMSD treated effluent does not go into the Madison lakes, rather it is discharged to either Badfish Creek (south of Madison which is in the Rock River basin) or Badger Mill Creek on the southwest side of Madison/Verona.  MMSD treated effluent is generally fairly clean, and is disinfected for several months, currently from mid-April to mid-October. Hence, other sources lead to the pollution.

Dischrage pipe runs along center of photo, by buoys and 
then beyond along far edge of the river

Nature itself is a contributor, as leaves and some other debris contain phosphorus.  That is why land girl and I clean our gutter, regularly, particularly in the fall, of leaves and debris to prevent them from entering the storm sewer and reaching the streams and lakes. Wauwatosa allows leaves to be raked into the street and as rain water travels through the leaves it becomes a phosphorus laden tea. That is why street sweeping, at least in McFarland, is more common than it used to be, but perhaps not sufficiently common today as it perhaps it should. 

Looking downstream from Exchange St Bridge
The "snake" in the water is the pipe

Dane County's contractor, which is sucking the muck, has now reached the Yahara River, less than a mile from my house.  In preparation, A large area of trees was cut down last year and large berms built to hold the legacy sediments that are pumped from the dredging machine.  I noticed the dredging machine on Monday, July 5, and thought it would be at work on July 6 or 7, but it is still in the same place as I saw it on 5 July.  On July 7, the only work I could see being accomplished was on some heavy equipment on the large berm.  At some point I will kayak and see how the work has progressed.

Looking upstream toward the disposition area.
The algae deposits are held in place by the pipe

What surprises me is how small the barge or boat is that holds the dredging equipment.  That and to wonder how it is sufficiently powerful to move the sediment several thousand feet to the berm area.  I suppose they may have another piece of equipment at the other end that helps such it along.    

Beyond the trees, are berms for the muck, the 
discharge site

Time will tell if this will assist in improving the water quality of the lakes.  I have found mother nature to be surprisingly resilient, but the earth can also only take so much of a beating.  I certainly hope it works to help our surface waters. The warm weather in May and early June certainly led to a bumper crop of blue-green algae, which is a rather disgusting and poisonous type of algae that harms people and some animals. I used to be able to swim at Lake Kegonsa State Park beach until after the first week of June when the water became too yucky, but this year the water was yucky in mid-May. Part of the problem is the location of the beach in a bay on the east shore of the lake, so all the weeds and gunk blow into the bay, and onto the beach.  I recall as a child swimming at Law Park in Madison, and also boating on Lake Monona.  Law Park is now mainly the Monona Terrace.  I realize a child is more likely to not pay attention to water quality, but I am quite confident the water quality of today is much worse than the water quality five decades ago.

Better view of the muck discharge site. 

If banning most sources of phosphorous, sucking the phosphorous laden muck, retention ponds, cover crops, grass buffers, and the many other methods that have been tried fail to work, I am not sure what the next step will be.  Nor, do I know how long it is expected to take to see if any improvement is realized.  I do hope that the county's efforts to clean up an wanted legacy will work so people can once again more fully enjoy the area lakes and streams.

Four Floating Females

During a camping trip in mid-June my wife and I sat at what was a near deserted beach and lake, but we nonetheless had some entertainment, which could have turned rather ugly. While at the beach we noticed four persons putting in at the boat landing, about 500 to 600 feet distant from the picnic table at which we sat.  The group turned out to be four women, each on a blow up inner tube or raft.  They had tied all these "floaties" together in one group. Thus, the adventure for four floating females began on a nice meteorological summer afternoon in the bright sunlight of northeast Wisconsin. 

Floating females too close to loon and nest

To us, on shore, the adventure was rather boring for the most part.  They seemingly seemed to float across to the other side of the lake, from south to north.  We were not there to watch them, but for us to relax, and read and me to swim.  My land girl is not a water girl, although she did kayak a few times. Here entrance in to water was limited to her feet getting in the kayak.  This lake has no channel that enters or leaves it, it is an enclosed water body, and I never thought of it having a current, but they floated across the lack from the boat landing which they had left.  They were several hundred feet from the boat landing, and near the opposite shore when they realized how far they were from "home base."  Two of the four had paddles, and this is where entertainment for my wife and I started.  First, one woman (I will call lead woman) who had the lead paddle complained that the other woman (I will call second woman) with a paddle was paddling the wrong way, and for every stroke the lead woman took she said that second woman took them back to where they were.  I am not sure if this is why the second woman then took a rather lackadaisical approach to paddling, or if she was somewhat inept.  I realize it is hard to paddle while on an inner tube), but as we watched she would dip the paddle in the water on one side and then switch and dip it in on the other side.  She did not attempt to move the paddle back in the water, in order to propel forward, she continued to dip the paddle in and out, in and out.

Loon still making a fuss right after the 
floating females passed by

While she was dipping the paddle the lead woman then complained that she would not take the other two unless "they also had oars" so all four could paddle.  With the lead woman doing the major share of the work, it was rather slow going, but offered some comedy to my wife and I.  

Loon on Patrol after being disturbed by 
the four floating females

Realizing how little they had traveled for how long they had paddled, the lead woman came up with the idea of heading toward the beach.  Gradually, and well, very, very slowly they made their way to the beach. At some point, she noticed me sitting in the shade on one side of the picnic table.  The lead woman then said, "Great, there is a guy up there."  She then said, "He can call 911 if we get in trouble."  I yelled back, "If I had my cell phone." Not to mention service, which is spotty in that area of the state. They then came to the small buoys that demarcate the swim area.  The crossing of the buoys required a five minute conversation. Earlier in the week I evenly spaced the buoys on the rope so to better demarcate the swim area from the rest of the lake, and have the rope float rather than sink below water level.  They decided to try and maneuver through and over a couple buoys, which they were able to successfully do.   As they got to the beach they finally noticed my wife, and were not too happy to know now two persons knew of their adventure.

Loon on patrol

I thought they would go to shore and walk, but the lead lady suggested walking in the water following the shore and pulling the floaties. It was at this point that I thought of making a suggestion or two to the group, but was hesitant to be viewed as a mansplainer.  I was going to suggest that they get out at the beach and take the trail from the beach to the boat landing if they can carry there floaties, or three take the trail and the other lady paddle the floaties back to the boat landing.  The trail can easily be managed in bare feet, as I have walked it before with bare feet, and if I can do so, any able person can do so.  After all, some of my siblings said I wore my shoes in the shower. That is how little they saw my bare feet when growing up.  One reason I was going to make the suggestion, is that I had a suspicion that a loon nest was along the shore on the way to the boat landing.  We have been at this beach many times, and often watch the loons.  I did not know exactly, but had a suspicion, given the loon activity we had witnessed in the past, and during that week.

Loon on nest next day

The ladies proved my suspicion to be correct.  They meandered right next to the loon nest and the loon went wild, gyrating, and splashing them. I certainly hope the ladies did not disturb the nest, but they sure disturbed the loon.  Mid-June is the time of year when loons lay their eggs or are the eggs are about to hatch.  As the ladies went by to the boat landing, I walked over and got a few photos of a very disturbed loon.  I came to regret not having made the suggestion, thinking either alternative would likely have saved the loon a good deal of stress, and anxiety.  I now realize I did not know the ladies why should I care if I was a mansplainer? Perhaps, suggestions, whether from a male or not, can actually be a good thing, and in this situation it certainly would have been. Loons only lay one or two eggs a year, and if eggs were lost due to the floating females, I would certainly feel bad for not having imparted some advice. 

Loon on nest the following day

After what was probably over an hour, of trying to get back to the boat landing, the four floating females finally reached their destination. The next day, on our trip to the beach, the loon was calmly laying on its nest.  For the four floating females, a nice day on the water turned into an adventure for them getting back to their starting point, and hopefully not a disaster for the loon.  

Photos by author, June 2021