Visiting The Kids

Day 350: Before the good weather slips away, I wanted to pay one more visit to my kids at Lake St. Clair, so I put the rack back on the car yesterday and loaded the 'yak this morning while there was still frost on the ground. I figured the water would still be warm enough that I didn't need waders and I was right, but the air still had a nip in it when I launched.

There's a closer ramp to the Sundew colony I call Jack's Lot, but my intention was to stay out for several hours and put some miles on the paddles. I didn't realize until I got home that the last time I'd been in the 'yak was at the end of July. Where did summer go? Oh, that's right...I was chasing rare plants in the Park and ironically, the Park's colony of Sundews never made an appearance. I checked for them on several occasions, scouring the area where they are known to occur, and never found leaf, flower or seed head.

At Lake St. Clair, Jack's Lot are doing fine, but I can't say as much for Sundew Island, a decrepit raft of logs and lumber. The one Sundew-bearing log of the raft has apparently come adrift and although I patrolled five miles of shoreline, I failed to turn it up. You may recall that the island drifted free from the northwest arm of the lake a couple of years ago, and was captured by a homeowner and chained in place in a shady cove. The resident Sundews weren't happy in the new location, so I hope they've sailed to a more pleasant harbour. However, as I said, Jack's Lot are receiving exceptional care. Jack has cut back all the alder seedlings on their two logs, exposing them to the light they love, and examination of their pads demonstrated a widely varied diet ranging from beetles to spiders and even several fairly large moths.

I only spent three and a half hours on the water today, and an hour of that was visiting the kids. I wonder if Jack has told his neighbours to be on the watch for that crazy naturalist who flies the Jolly Roger on the back of her bright orange kayak?