Loons and Calories

Friday Fred and I headed over to Hayward to spend the weekend with our friends Paul and Lauri at their cottage on Round Lake. The weather was cold and rainy, but by Saturday morning the rain had stopped and it was merely cold and windy. My fishing license had been burning a hole in my pocket since May, so I was willing to go out on the water despite the weather for my first fishing experience in years.
Fred, Paul, and I boated to a spot across the lake, and the first thing I saw was a family of loons. There was a mom, dad, and one youngster. The mother hung close to the baby while Dad was fishing for some breakfast. He would dive beneath the surface and be under for what seemed like ages, then pop up far away from where he'd disappeared. At one point he was only a few yards from the boat, and I fumbled for my camera to get a picture. He dove just as I snapped, and I had a nice photo of the empty lake. I waited for him to reappear and then Fred, in the back of the boat, said the loon was now behind us. By the time I passed him the camera, it was underwater again. Finally Dad emerged with a fish in his mouth! He started swimming toward his family, and we chugged along perpendicular to them, getting close enough for some pictures. I think they are fascinating, and it was really fun to watch them. Their haunting cry across a lake gives me goosebumps.
As for the fishing part of our morning, it wasn't so successful. To get out of the wind, we went to a more sheltered bay, and I nearly froze into a statue in the front of the boat as we made the trip. We watched in amusement as a woman chased her two dogs along the edge of the lake, yelling most of the time. It reminded me of the many times I've futilely chased Huskies. I think I cast my line about a thousand times, catching one limp chunk of seaweed. Paul got a hook caught in his finger, and we lamented that we hadn't brought any beer--or at least hot chocolate.
The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxing, shopping, a campfire, and eating too much. Lauri and I did take a long walk, and of course shopping counts as exercise! But my friend Will Power seemed to have abandoned me for the weekend, probably off helping some other fat lady. Surprisingly I was down a pound this morning, so that's 3 pounds in 3 weeks. I'm happy with the slow and steady approach, and feel more in control now that PMS week is past.
Thanks to my friends Cathi and Sara for your encouragement and support! Won't it be great if there is less of us when we finally meet?!! Think HEALTHY!