A perfect summer evening...

The long, lovely evenings that make summer up here so enjoyable have been few and far between this year. Last night was really the first one I can recall so despite a to-do list three miles long, I took the night off and went paddling. About a three minute drive from my house is a little lake.

It is shallow, chock full of disgusting weeds, and unable to support fish life since it freezes right to the bottom in the winter. You could not pay me enough to swim in that water, but it is hard to resist for the occasional paddle. I can be unloaded and on the water in under 10 minutes!

Technically classed as a dead lake, by whoever makes these decisions, this little puddle lake is actually teeming with life. Dozens and dozens of ducks and gulls call this home. I even saw a loon last night. He wouldn't let me get close enough for a picture unlike the more relaxed ducks and the completely unconcerned gulls, but I am a prairie girl by birth; you can't grow up in rural Saskatchewan without learning what a loon call sounds like!

There were at least fifty of these little gulls hanging out at the end of the lake, completely unconcerned about the human in the bright yellow boat!

These almost grown ducklings were highly entertaining. The youngsters were having a great time splashing each other--typical siblings!

At least three beaver families reside on the lake. This big guy was less than impressed that I was there.

He gave me a few warning tail slaps, but a smaller beaver seemed to be quite curious about me and actually swam near my kayak for a bit. I like beavers! They eat poplar trees, which I am highly allergic to!

About 10:30pm, the sun was starting to set on a very enjoyable evening.

Hopefully, summer will come back again at least briefly before September! It's not my favorite season, but more than a day of decent weather would still be nice! Today the clouds and rain are back!