Sundew Paradise

Makeup Day 4: No trip to Lake St. Clair is complete without a visit to the Sundews, and I am very glad I decided to go yesterday instead of waiting for the "better" weather today which turned up cloudy and showery out of plain cussedness. I did several more miles on the lake than planned, simply because for the most part, it was like a sheet of glass. Even this late in the season, I managed to catch (and release) six nice trout.

The real purpose of the trip had nothing to do with fish or rare plants or even recreation. It was to deliver a loaf of homemade whole-wheat bread to my Lake St. Clair friend Jim as a thank-you for the four packages of bass filets he sent home with me two weeks ago. I had no way of keeping them cold, so he packed them in a cooler filled with ice before he delivered them to me. With autumn upon us, I figured it was prudent to return his cooler lest it stay in my kitchen until next spring. It would have been rude to return it empty, so I got up at 4:15 to begin baking. By the time the morning fog had lifted and the temperature had risen above 45°, the fresh loaf was airing on the stove. A phone call en route brought him down to the launch and the bread was delivered. Then I set off for the main body of the lake to fish until the sun had risen over the hill which keeps the Sundews in shade during the early part of the day.

It was hard to come off the lake on this occasion, unlike the last time I was out and sickening with a summer cold not yet to the symptomatic point. I'd come home early, tired and achy, puzzled as to why a 6.5 mile paddle had taken the starch out of me so dramatically. Fully recovered now, I was reluctant to leave off my explorations even as the sun sank lower and the air turned a bit too cool. Perhaps I'll mount another expedition to Sundew Paradise before the season ends, weather permitting. At least I take comfort in knowing that I have done my duty by returning Jim's cooler in a timely fashion, for it is my way to "neither a borrower nor a lender be."