Brave

 

I suppose bravery is relative. The three of us had pulled on waders, kayaked a little more than a mile in the predawn dark (one day there was dense fog, though apparently we say “mist” in east Texas) and sloshed around in the lake (it sure looked like a swamp to these Arizona eyes) waiting for the light to come up and shooting. It was a small stretch outside my comfort zone, but one woman we ran across looked at us wide-eyed and said, “wow, you’re brave!”

She got me thinking. It was a nice compliment, but we were really just having fun.  Maybe we’re brave, or maybe I and these two treasured members of my tribe are just a little odd in our perception of fun.  I’d like to go on record saying that I can think of many people clearly more courageous than I.

 

This all started last autumn, when the three of us were part of a group in the Smoky Mountains. We started that trip sharing a few examples of what we’d been photographing lately.  Gwen showed us her gorgeous images of Caddo Lake and Amy and I were hooked.  A year later, there we were.

 

Compared to Arizona this place feels like another planet. Who knew; there’s a fall color season in Cypress forests.

 

It’s a big lake, but some spots seem to be getting very popular with workshop groups.  We were grateful to have had some help from the locals finding quiet spots.

 

That mist (yes, fog) was spectacular on a couple of cold mornings. This was what we were waiting for.

 

One evening we hired Captain John to scoot us out to a more distant location in a motorboat.  I’ll admit that that was a nice break from being under our own power and suiting up in the waders.

 

We can’t always be brave.

 

Thanks for paddling along with us. More images are on the website, in the Autumn 2022 Gallery.