Lessons Learned

It's so good to be back at the cottage again!   My sister, MarionB, is here now but will be leaving in a couple days and then my daughter and her family will be arriving.
The morning rain had stopped and the sun was shining so we decided to take the canoe out this afternoon - my sister's goal is to be able to get in and out of the canoe safely and confidently and this was practice time for her.   We will go out again tomorrow and it will be my turn to learn a new skill.   I always sat in the front of the canoe and just paddled - I never learned to actually steer the canoe.   Can you imagine!    Our parents bought this island when I was 3 years old and we spent every summer here as children and I never learned to steer a canoe.   My sister will be giving me lessons tomorrow.   
The outing was a great success - my sister managed to get in and out of the canoe safely without overturning the it or doing any damage to it or herself and we really enjoyed paddling around the back bays, listening to the birds singing and frogs croaking.   We did see a turtle and something else - not sure what it was though - a beaver? a fish jumping?  It was in the water and made quite a splash twice (once right beside the canoe) but we didn't actually see it and didn't know what it was.   Whatever it was we hope we don't see it again tomorow.