It has been blazing hot the past couple of days in Maine, which is really unusual for this time of year. Today it was ~89F with a heat index of much higher.
So, because none of the houses or buildings up here have A/C, I decided to go for a little swim.
Earlier today my River Ecology class when out to the Stillwater River to collect aquatic macroinvertebrates, and it was a lot of fun, but it also introduced me to a really cool place on a nearby river. There were TONS of rocks everywhere (because the river was so low, because it hasn't rained here in a while). And if you don't already know, I LOVE rocks, especially ones like these, because they were so smooth and rounded and big and small and just perfect for stacking.... I'll have to take pictures, it's hard to describe how beautiful this place is, it's so different from how rivers in Ohio look.
Anyway, so, after my bike ride home from campus after lab, I decided to go over and have a swim in the river. It was wonderful. I felt like a combination of Pocahontas and a river nymph, because it was so rocky and there were little pools and riffles and big rocky outcroppings with secret pools. Needless to say, it was cool and refreshing and I was exploring around, which I love to do. I found a good spot that was deep enough to relax in and was doing just that when I looked down and found a 5-6inch fish looking at me. I then realized that there were several other of the same kind of fish also looking at me. For some reason my first thought was that they were a school of piranhas! (Must have had something to do with having Sheldon, our piranha around in our house last year) I soon realized that piranhas are not native to Maine and that they were of course some other kind of fish, which was true because they didn't have teeth, just regular open fish suction mouths. Following the whole Pocahontas theme, I kept very still and just watched them back, I was hoping to touch one or something, but eventually a really brave one, who had become intrigued with my shoe (Keen's are pretty cool) decided to get closer. He tried to nibble at my shoe a few times and then lost interest. It was really cool and crazy. They all sort of realized that I wasn't terribly interesting or threatening so they kept watching for a while but then swam off. I decided that I probably couldn't top that so I got out, stacked a few rocks (because I couldn't resist, they were so perfect for it), tried to balance a few rocks on end, like the amazing rock balancing/stacking guy in Vancouver (who is amazing and probably who I want to be like when I get older) and then came home for dinner.
All in all, a pretty darn good day.
2 comments:
never swim alone!
Times like that you have to make a mental note and remember everything. The sky, temp, sounds, all your surroundings. When it all goes to hell think back to that time for a minute, take a deep breath and relax.
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