Docks Out

The cycle of life at the lake place has its own land marks.  Of course the main seasons are long, lazy, endless summer.....and harsh white winter that you enjoy as best you can.  The transition points between these two modes are Dock In and Dock Out.

In the spring you wait for ice to go out, for the approach of fishing opener and for a day with decent sunshine.  It can be chilly work if you get impatient and make the move too soon.  But it is satisfying.  The dock is in.  You can get the boat out.  Small bluegills will show up soon to amuse the grand children.  This year we had a trio of amphibians called "the Dock Frogs" that lived under the rubber mat on the approach to the dock.  The junior zoologist would go down several times a day to flip the mat over.  Maybe he'd catch 'em, maybe he'd just say hello.

Dock Out is another exercise in timing.  You want to squeeze every last precious moment out of summer.  And the lake as seen from the dock is a thing of beauty in the fall.  But eventually you have to admit that yes, this is a nice day but there are no guarantees of more.  Time to don the waders, round up some cross generational muscle and bring the dock in.  

A few scenes from Dock Out day, October 2nd, 2020.

The view of our shoreline, fall colors just past peak.

The firepit has long since gone cold.  

We left the rubber mat in place.  I don't know if the Dock Frogs are snoozing directly under it but if so it's best to not disturb them.

A last look.  For some photos I'll tweak the exposure and contrast a bit to give them better visibility on a computer screen.  But this series needed nothing.  The sky was a paler blue, as befits the coming cold.  The clouds reflect on the water as if anticipating snow and ice.  If you look closely in this last one you'll see a single falling leaf just touching the water's surface.  I'm not a great photographer and use whatever equipment is at hand.  But sometimes the beauty of your subject makes you look good.