Behold It As a Lake, Know It As a River

Both of this week's paddles were on rivers impounded by dams.  On Wednesday the Assabet River appeared lake-like...

...not resembling a river until almost reaching Gleasondale in Stow, MA.

A pedaling kayak fisherman reported excellent fishing having caught 22 of his target fish, bass...

Got to see this almost-fledged eagle hanging close to the nest where it was born...

...it must be hard to leave the only place where food is delivered.

Oddly this deceased deer had apparently escaped the eagle family's attention...

On Saturday I experienced sort of a weird and "moody" paddle from the Woerd Ave boat launch in Waltham, MA. Launched into the Charles River Lakes District and headed downriver to the Moody Street Dam under cloudy skies and relatively cool conditions...

In Ron McAdow's guidebook The Charles River - exploring nature and history on foot and by canoe the author included the words of Henry David Thoreau who when looking upon this section of the Charles River near day's end asked "What can be more impressive than to look up a noble river just at evening, one, perchance, which you have never explored, and behold its placid waters reflecting the woods and sky, lapsing inaudibly toward the ocean; to behold it as a lake, but know it as a river, tempting the beholder to explore it and his own destiny at once?" (from his journal July 9, 1851)

The only bright colors on this day were provided by one of the many boat liveries along the river... this one at Cronin's Landing...

Plenty of other boaters were out on the water including all these canoes heading to Auburndale Park...

It brought to mind stories my parents would tell of days spent at nearby Forest Grove back in the 1930s.

Another group of paddlers experienced a capsize...

...possibly a training exercise.

Paddled past the construction project beneath the Route 95/90 interchange...

By the time I reached the golf cart bridge...

...it was a river and not a lake I was paddling. I remembered coming downriver in past Run of the Charles races where one couldn't be sure there'd be adequate head room to pass under the bridge, this being one of the faster moving sections of river

Before arriving back at Woerd Ave I encountered this upside-down, stand-up-paddler...

Kind of sums up how I feel after Thursday night's televised debate, and the nearby Watch Factory served to remind me that the clock is ticking...

Trash from the Assabet on Wednesday...

Trash from the Charles on Saturday...

 ...which included 22 "nip" bottles and a giant red golf ball.

This image of water lilies includes an interloper that couldn't hide...