Down on the Boardwalk by Bea Tifton

People who know me also know that I am not an outdoorsy person. I like nature, but I can’t take the blistering summer heat and I overtire easily. So, it was a nice surprise when a friend and I had lunch in a neighboring small town on an overcast, cooler than average day last week. We stuffed ourselves with chips, queso, and enchiladas, then decided to explore the new boardwalk in town.

It wasn’t exactly what I expected. I thought it would be a wide boardwalk with a restaurant and a few stores. But it’s actually for people who like to stroll or fish along the lake. There were benches scattered along in case we got tired. We decided to try it out. The boardwalk itself was made of spongy material that felt like those old moon walk shoes I remember from when I was a small girl. It rolled and splashed a bit with the water, but we couldn't feel it.

 As we began our walk, the water made the area a bit cooler and there was a slight breeze. We passed under big trees that kept me from overheating. It felt like we were miles from town. There weren’t any other people in sight, or any birds. I guess they were hiding from the sun, too. The buzz of the cicadas were almost mesmerizing as we walked along. We kept looking over the rails to see if we could spot turtles, but we never saw any. They  were probably with the birds. I did see one baby water moccasin darting away under the water, but he was too quick for me to get a picture. I doubt it would have come out, anyway, as I’m smart enough to keep on the right side of the safety rail. And we saw a couple of minnows, probably glad I scared away the snake. There were colorful dragonflies darting about on the water lilies.

Did I mention the lilies? The lily pads were the size of charger plates, and the lilies themselves were the biggest I’ve ever seen. Their perfume was sweet but not cloying, sort of like magnolia blossoms, which I love. I didn’t even know waterlilies had a scent. What looked like miles of them stretched out to the lake beyond. 

 

 

 

 

 We finally spotted one lone fisherman, just packing up. As we passed his spot, we saw his line in the tree with his bobber, happy to be free, rolling on the water. No wonder the fisherman was in such a hurry when he saw us.

We turned around to trek back and were just getting overtired when we reached my friend’s truck, a little sweaty by that time, but very happy. It was the perfect day to explore. And maybe we even managed to walk off our enchiladas from lunch.

Rain Trueax is still in a no-Internet zone, but she'll be back in her regular blog spot soon.