Father's Day Canoeing

Wanna rent a canoe? I asked.

We had just eaten breakfast and were wondering what we were going to do next.

Sure, he said.

So we walked down the hill and hopped in the car and paid the $3.00 to park at Zilker Park. We walked past the playscape where I used to bring him on my weekends in Austin. We walked down the stairs to where the water comes falling over the dam at Barton Springs.

Take number 62, they told us.

In minutes, we shoved off into the clear, greenish water of the creek.

We went by ducklings. We went by turtles warming themselves in the sun. We zigzagged across the creek as it got wider and deeper and approached Town Lake. And then as we went out into the lake, we turned and went upstream.

We went by wood ducks. We went by swans, giving them a wide berth since they had young ones with them. We went by fallen trees just submerged under the surface. We went in and out of shadow and sun.

We passed the cypress trees the tower over the southern shore. We passed Turk's Caps blooming in the undergrowth. We weaved in and out, ducking our heads and pushing aside the branches that swept the surface of the water.

He paddled. And I paddled. He set his paddle in his lap and watched the scene go by. And I kept paddling.

A family canoed by going the other direction.

I want to do what they're doing, Dad! I heard a boy say. He was pointing to us. I want to go under the trees.

No kidding, so did I! I wanted to go canoeing with my boy on a sunny day on the cool waters of the lake in the shade of the cypress trees on Father's Day.

And I got my wish before the day was half done.

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