Put in...Take out...Fall in love

I'm bobbing in the middle of a desert lake and the wind is dashing gray spray into my face in anticipation of another spring storm looming over the Tahoe Range, still topped with snow. In just an hour I've paddled through a small forest of trees growing out of the mud of the lake, been rocked by the large, slick bodies of carp in their rush to escape me, been serenaded by a flock of geese and buzzed by black and white coot.

Ever since getting my new lake kayak (which I fondly call the Missile Pop for it's orange color) I've been up close with a part of nature that I had no idea existed. There is something very freeing yet unnerving about being a foot underwater surrounded by a plastic hull and powered only by my own arm strength.

I've tried river kayaking, but didn't like getting flipped into an icy wash and having my head (cum helmet) banged against the rocks on the bottom. No, I'll be content floating gently with the catfish and racing the mallards across the water.