Kip’s Comments - August 7, 2023

Mutual Respect, Mutual Apologies, Mutual Appreciation

As I paddled the Wapsipinicon River tonight near Frederika, my pace was slow… very slow. My forward movement was so minimal that my paddle blades hardly made a sound as I sliced through the water. At such a rate I see more, I hear more, and I tend to enjoy more.

While making my way down the river I was surprised to find a river fellow moving almost as slow up the river toward me in his flat-bottom boat. Powered by his trolling motor as he fished habitat, he was hardly moving and making very little noise. As often happens with flat-bottom boats, I could hear the river slap the bottom of the boat, but even that was not much unnatural sound.

When we met up with each other there were mutual apologies exchanged. He apologized for interrupting my quiet time on the river as he explained I was the first person he had seen all day. I apologized for being the one person he saw on the river all day. Then we talked about the river, the solitude, the flora and fauna observations, and how important our simple Wapsipinicon River is to us. We understood each other quite well. The feelings were mutual.

My slow paddling pace on the water, even when seeing someone, provided ample opportunities for photography. Following is a sampling of images I found worthy of sharing.

Whitetail Deer Fawn - Image 833616

Obedient Plant Growing out of Log - Image 833591

Cutleaf Coneflower - Image 833502

Cutleaf Coneflower - Image 833533

Cutleaf Coneflower - Image 833559