Outdoors North: The wonders and wilds of the Great North Woods

“Silently, the morning mist is lying on the water, captive moonlight waiting for the dawn,” – John Denver It was early morning when I approached the lakeshore. I stood in the wet grass just up from the sandy shoreline, admiring the stillness of the surface of the water. So flat, reflecting the surrounding trees and sky above, without a single ripple. A ghostlike mist had settled over the lake before I got there. I hadn’t come to fish or take pictures. I just came for the opportunity to soak up some fresh morning air, some peace and to let out a few of the knots in my brain. Quite suddenly, the silence shattered into a million pieces. From just a few feet away from me, somewhere out there in the fog, a loon began giving its distress call. Though I couldn’t see the bird, I could imagine it with its back up, flapping its wings. I made no sound myself. I just waited, quietly. In a few seconds, the loon calmed down and stopped what I presumed was panicking.

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