Peaceful Paddling: The Outlet and Conewango Creek:
Two relaxing paddling spots in Chautuauqua County.

Put a Little Grasshopper in Your Life

...and the grasshopper played all day while the industrious ant readied his home for winter. (Aesop’s Fables)

The storm windows should have been put up. The iris patch cried out for attention. Goldenrod bloomed in the garden. (It sneaked into the formal bed due to my inattention this summer.) The outdoor furniture reminded us of warmer days now gone by. The lawn needed to be mowed.

All this work screamed at us on a gloriously sunny autumn day. So what did we do? We went paddling. We paddled the Outlet of Chautauqua Lake. There were other “grasshoppers” out there too. Paddlers and motor boaters shared the waterways with the local and migrating wildlife. The water birds ate hungrily at the duck weed that floated on the water. They ate so furiously and intently that it made you pause to listen to the sound of their bills slurping up the food.

We should have brought our bird guide with us. At this migrating time of year, there were some species of birds that we did not recognize. We made a mental note to bring the book along the next time we paddle. I’ll talk with a friend at the Nature Conservancy to find out what is flying in our airspace these days.

Turtles basked on logs trying to absorb those last warm rays of sunshine. Some of them had come up through the duck weed and wore a Halloween costume of lime green seeds on their backs.

We picked up litter as we paddled: bottles, a bucket, and even a chafing dish fuel canister. We found most of it opposite a marina. Many times boaters do not retrieve what is blown off their decks.

The magnificent blue sky, the wildlife and the water were great! We had taken some time off to play, so we went home and prepared our house for colder days.