deposit: one hour

North Country sky on the Raquette
Late autumn Shrubbery
Last Time Out?
Reflection
The Last Stragglers
Warm Cove
Burnished Gold
Willow Stand

Each time I have yanked my kayak through the grass and plunked it into the water this month, I have thought,"Surely, this may be the last trip of the season...." A North Country winter looms large before me with its dark mornings, dark late afternoons, plummeting temperatures, and heart-stopping blasts of arctic air.
Nary a sign yet of what is coming, though. The river water is chilly, but the air above it is balmy. The leaves are finally past their splendor, but remnants of faded glory still cling to the trees and grassy banks of the Raquette. As my tiny craft courses upstream, I keenly aware that I am floating on borrowed time.
If I could bank an hour and withdraw it in mid-February, it would be an hour like I had today.