An Unexpected Pleasure

Wow! What an unexpected gift of warmth this late in the season. Today was as balmy as yesterday was frigid, and I'll bet you can guess how I spent the afternoon. I had meant to put my canoe in the basement, but I sure am glad it was still tied to my car. So off I went to the river. Not a cloud in the sky and only a wisp of wind now and then, perfect for just ambling along under the banks, where the sunlight danced in reflected ripples on the rocks and the trunks of trees.

I noticed a lot of saplings had been gnawed right off, and soon I came to a pile of fresh-cut limbs arranged against the bank. Must be a beaver family is starting to build a new home.

Remember that tiny fluffy fly I showed a few posts back? Well, here is a clump of Wooly Alder Aphids at another stage of development. At first, I wondered if this was a lichenous growth, until I looked close and saw that the clump was made up of tiny writhing creatures.

Here's a closer shot of some of the individual aphids.

How quickly the sun heads down these late fall afternoons! It seems I had hardly been on the river an hour before the surrounding mountains began to shadow the opposite bank. But today, because it was so warm, even the shadows seemed lovely. I saw another paddler out there, taking in this exquisite scene.