Celebrating the Autumn Equinox - in the Zone

You have to have island sensitivity to feel and see Autumn in the islands. In a sort of reverse way, flowers and trees bloom but leaves fall. The deep humidity of summer lifts a fraction or two. It just feels different to someone living out the seasons by the sea and ocean, but don't try to tell that to someone who experiences four seasons a year, even if those seasons are now whacked out of what used to be the norm by climate change. They usually won't buy what an islander is selling, regarding seasons. Spoiler alert - it's true, we do have seasons.

Here in the mid-west, and by mid I mean the middle of the country, Autumn came in with a perfect 10 on the 'what an early fall day should feel like' score. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the high 60's. I'd told my daughter the night before I was having a need to see water jones and she surprised me with a drive to Lake Shawnee, a 410 acre lake not far away from the house. 

Fishing for whatever is fished for here

There is bass and bluegill, catfish and trout. There are invasive zebra mussels as well, not the kind you want to see on a menu unfortunately. You can read all about them here. 

Once the picnic surprise was out of the bag (how odd, our grocery shopping seemed to include all that was needed for a simple picnic; we just had to add some hard lemonade and potato salad) we drove around the lake on a mini tour. 7 miles around, according to Michelle. I told her that was about the size of Culebra, so no more complaining that I keep being amazed (irritatingly out loud) about the space around these parts, the huge parking lots, the 'it's just there' meaning miles away seeming very far indeed to me. "Ok, we're at the ferry dock. Now we're in town. Now we're out of town. Now we're half-way to Punta Soldado. Etc." 

This is a very terrible photo for clarity, sorry

Because I didn't know our true destination, I didn't bring my camera. But in the above phone photo, where a flock of swans clustered on the far bank, Michelle told me that up in those trees, with the gap between them on the right, is the home of a pair of bald-headed eagles, who have had babies. They are very protected, fortunately. 

Yes, my love affair with limestone lives on in
another of my favorite things, a bridge.
But wait! There's more!

There are long hiking trails throughout the park, with dogs being walked and joggers jogging, enjoying the weather and space. 

A little sun and shade dappled walk led up to this gazebo.

This gazebo! Oh my. 

I laid on the floor to try to capture the whole thing but it wasn't happening

The supporting beams remind me of Caribbean architecture, except done in tree limbs. 

There are a few of these 'shelters' as they call them, scattered around the park. They can be rented out, like the wedding gardens. In fact, there was a wedding going on when we were there. Lucky for them, they had a truly perfect day for an outdoor wedding, as the day before was lowered grey skies and deep humidity. 

I wanted to go inside the shelter or at least peek inside to see the two fireplaces - or I guessed there were two fireplaces because of the two chimneys. That wasn't going to happen but the bonus in walking up to check it out was this door.

Do you want a closer look? I did.

We found our spot down by the water and spread our lunch out. Across the lake a flock of geese were enjoying the leftovers of another picnic. 

Boats ran back and forth farther out in the lake and then this fly fisherman with a trolling motor drifted close by. 

A large turtle lifted its head to check out the action, but it was gone too quickly to capture. 

Full and feeling the tranquilization that, for me, only being by or on water brings, we headed back home, the first day of Autumn a very good one indeed. 

Have a mildly majestic Monday. Do something mentally medicinal.