About two Friday’s ago I went sailing for the first time. I loved the tranquility of the water, and the excitement caused by waves rocking the boat. With every buckle of the knee I was grateful for not falling off. Ha! I would most definitely do it again, but there was more to the afternoon. Let me start from the beginning…

After meeting at the house of Rich DeValk who owned the sail boat, I explored the property, took in the smells of the lake, and did the inevitable; I took pictures.

I was in awe of the beauty I saw. There was a tree stump laying on it’s side, clearly no longer connected to the ground, but some how small green leaves were peeking through it’s center; vegetation had made something dead alive again. The owner of the house and property decorated the landscape with tables and chairs, and there were flowers everywhere. Snap…Snap…Snap.

The house sat on a geographical rise and there were rickety wooden stairs that lead down to the lake. Around me I could hear the chatter of hidden birds and locust. I descended down, and griped the hand rail as I felt the sway. When I made it down mid-way, I turned back just to see how steep the stairs looked from below, and I saw sun peeking out of the trees. Like light passing through a hole in the center of a hand. I was not alone.

When I reached the bottom, I took notice of some tall purple flowers, but something small, fuzzy, yellow was occupying them. How I wished I had my zoom lens with me; I wouldn’t have had to get as close as I soon did. I squatted down and leaned in. My camera pressed against my glasses and greasy nose. He was a fast flyer, hovering for just a few seconds at a time as he gathered what he came for. I snapped cautiously, peeking out at him over my camera just to make sure I wasn’t getting to close to his “personal bubble”. But the fear was soon gone and I realized he wasn’t harmless, just doing what he was made to do and not preoccupied with hurting me. We were alike in that way.

After walking along the wooden planks that kept me from falling in the water, and seeing tons of spider webs and lily pads (no frogs though, shucks). I went back up the stairs to the house and alas, dinner was served! Sweet corn, grilled chicken, deviled eggs, and yellow squash. A royal feast for college student with ramen noodles as a cabinet staple.

When our bellies were full of food and our mouths of laughter, we motor-sailed up Oak Orchard Creek for Ontario Lake. We passed many docked boats along the creek to the opening of the great body of fresh water. Some people were riding, some eating, and some even swimming. The urge to wave at as many people as I could overcame me and won.

Once we were out there, the motor was turned off, the jib went up and it was a rocky adventure, made complete with an un-capture-able sunset due to a cloud bank on the horizon. We were the only vessel out on there on the wide open sea. Amazing!