Amongst the cat tails

Walking amongst the cat tails we were looking for golden rod galls collecting data on an obscure ecological question I won't even attempt to bore and confuse you with on these pages. Instead I'll say marching through tall aisles of cat tails and reeds is enough to make anybody revert back to childhood mirth and curiosity.

Red winged blackbirds scorned and hollered at us while we picked around near their nests. We found the bleached bones of a deer, vertebrate, skull, and femur bone. The cat tails were shedding their fluffy down like furry dogs excited for warmer days. And a million small snowflakes of aspen seed were whirling all around us in the breeze like we were in a Christmas globe turned upside down.

Afterwards we all walked down to the beach to disburse. Frisbies were flying, pant legs were being rolled up, shirts thrown off, and many a stone picked up to test its heft skipped long across the water. We lingered longer than we intended, but Dave, Katie, and I were in no hurry to leave it was so pleasant there on the beach of Sturgeon Bay. On the way home we stopped for ice cream and I spoiled my appetite for dinner. Two huge scoops of classic french vanilla.