I finally got around to my first kayak session of the season. Hooray!

Thank God I paid for that season pass back in March. After my first 1 hour, 20 minute row, it's turned out to be the best investment I could've made.

The weather was sooooo perfect this evening. Sadly, the waterfowl on the river are in short supply. Between Rainageddon and the Great Water Main Break, I'm not exactly shocked that a lot of the birds opted for a more hospitable place to nest.

Still, I managed to spot two Canada geese mothers with baby chicks that were so new that they were still bright yellow fluffballs. I also spotted several great blue herons, a small painted turtle, and one pair of swans. The duck colony is much smaller this year, but it now includes two barnyard ducks. Clearly the barnyard ducks are escaping from The Man, tuning in to their wild site, and dropping out of the farm race.

I also decided to kayak up to where the MWRA water main break washed into the river. The damage around the area is devastating. All of the trees where the temporary "Charles River tributary" entered the Charles River proper are gone. The soil has been washed down to bedrock. The bridge that was in the way is closed, essentially cutting Regis College off from its boathouse. Upstream, an aqueduct-style bridge that had been build during the 1930s is so damaged that you can see the steel skeleton poking through the cement. A metal bridge slightly upriver from that is slightly warped thanks to the constant watery assaults.

Yikes! Water is powerful indeed.

There are also a lot of trees lurking treacherously under the water in that area, so I had to row carefully or risk running aground without actually being anywhere near land. Yeesh.

In any case, I really, really, really needed the row. I feel approximately 1,000% better thanks to that season pass.