ESCAPE TO NATURE

Yesterday, my son and I decided it was time to escape from the city. I raised my kids to appreciate nature and to hang out with it as much as possible. They spent part of their childhood years around the lakes and woods of northern Michigan.

Lost Lake near Hood River, Oregon was our destination, about two hours northeast of Portland, Oregon. A fantastically beautiful place where we used a canoe to paddle around its perimeter. My arms are sore today from three and a half hours of paddling. We did make a few stops along the shore to sit and observe nature. Above is what the shore lines were like -- stony and full of bleached tree roots as well as gigantic trees with water so clear you could see the bottom. I only fell in once while trying to exit the canoe to the shoreline. Oh well, it was a warm day and my clothes and tennis shoes dried quickly.

As we rounded one of the many curves -- we got a wonderful surprise. A great close-up look of Mount Hood. 

Few folks were out on the lake and at one section, as the above photo shows, there were no folks at all. So quiet, with soft fragrant breezes blowing from the many fir trees. Lots of dragonflies along with butterflies checked us out at shore stops. It was a fine day to enjoy nature.