An aquatic plane visited the lake this evening, reminding me of an oversized metallic waterfowl with a blue-and-white striped potbelly. It sort of slipped in on us unexpectedly (honestly, we didn’t notice it come down) and was skimming along with an air of finesse and just the right amount of white spray, Cypress Garden style, when I went out on the deck to photograph the TWO baby coons rambling around out there. (Yes, our first baby brought along a sibling this time, and they’re both clueless. Totally unafraid.) Just as I snapped my long-awaited pictures of the darling little bandit faces, I looked up. “OH, very cool, very cool….look….an airplane!”
This is not unusual for our lake – we have aquatic planes practice landing and taking off every once in a while. Still, it’s a fascinating sight to watch, and every time I’m a little bit awe-struck.
So to continue the story, the little coons tumbled on their way, baby-coon style, and I turned my attention to the plane. It gracefully turned around in a wide arc while perched elegantly on its pontoons, revved the engine, and taxied for a fairly short distance before lifting off – not unlike the swans when they literally run on top of the water to gain enough momentum to take to the air. When it finally did go airborne, it climbed only high enough to barely clear the trees (yikes!) and then circled the lake with one wing tipped down as if to wave in farewell. Pretty dramatic, I’d say.
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