Nature Nearby: Silver Lake Edition

Today Mikro's friend M found 3 crayfish at Silver Lake (which isn't a lake, but rather a calm spot on the river). The boys had fun examining them, and then released them back where they found them. Mikro got pinched once, and was quite surprised. He was completely undeterred, though, and enjoyed watching these critters immensely. We were told by J, Mikro's swim teacher, that they are fairly rare here now, and so the boys were doubly thrilled to have caught several. I'm wondering if this means the river is in better shape this season than it has been. Everyone has noticed that there is far less turbidity this year. The water is as clear as glass...



We had a great swim today. We went to the far side of the rock jetty, and swam out to a huge submerged rock (called "Third Rock"), where we could rest. It's a fairly long swim, with a little bit more current than Mikro is used to (but well out of the main current), and he did really well. The water around the rock is ten feet deep, and I was a little nervous having him out there, but we were with friends, so I decided to let him try it. Glad I did. He had no trouble at all. And he was fine with the concept of just floating if he needed a break, which he didn't. He's got a really powerful kick, and his arm strokes are coming along. Still a bit of flail, but vastly improved over last year. I am impressed by how much he learned this summer!