Michael Row the Boat Ashore

We've been trying to get in as much swimming as possible, so on Wednesday morning, we headed to Greenwood Furnace for a swim. There weren't many people there, and we had the swimming area all to ourselves. Once again, we were the only ones in the water. It was a fine, chilly swim.

We watched a bird doing some amazing diving maneuvers. I suspect it may have been a cormorant, as I've seen them there before. It was only on the surface briefly, and then it would be gone, underneath, for a long time.

I told my husband about the bird. "Oh come on," he said; "You're telling me it's holding its BREATH all that time?" But then we both saw it doing its thing, and he admitted I was right. It was pretty cool to watch, but difficult to photograph: a game of whack-a-mole, only with cameras and birds.

I walked around and took some pictures: of the pretty little graveyard on the hill, the tree rows, the lake with its reflections. And I wanted a picture of this little boat on the shore that spoke to me of summer's end.

The scene made me think of a song, and so I hummed it to myself: here is Maggie Wheeler, with Michael Row the Boat Ashore.