Kayaking for Watching Nature

When one of my neighbors watched me slide my kayak into the back end of my my husband’s truck she curiously asked me if I was into”white water.” Not all kayakers, I explained, are looking for that kind of excitement. I’m more of a “nature watcher.” I do it looking to quietly paddle local rivers and lakes here in New England. I have one of the smallest kayaks that are easily fitted into a small truck or on top of a car and only weigh about thirty-six pounds. I am a baby boomer, out to relax, and have found a group of women who do this as soon as the weather allows, in the spring. And everywhere we go, we meet other women who are taking up this wonderful way of communing with nature. Last time we were out, we watched a blue heron walk along the shoreline, looking for fish. We were about fifteen feet away from him, unable to believe this large bird was letting us get so close. We’ve seen beaver and many different kinds of birds, including eagles and hawks. Two summers ago, during a kayaking rental trip in Bar Harbor, Maine, where my husband joined me on a sunset seashore excursion, a Fin-backed Whale had found his way into this deep harbor. We watched with eerie fascination as this mammoth creature found it’s way out to sea. It was far away enough that we weren’t frightened, just exhilarated. This is a sport for all ages, and a great thing to do on vacations.