Boaters at Sayre Dam

The afternoons have been getting pretty hot, so we often try to get our outdoors events or chores in early in the day. On this morning, we scooted up to Bald Eagle State Park (also known as Sayre Dam) for a quick morning swim before the heat of the day.

When we arrived, the park was pretty deserted, with just a handful of cars, most of which were at a nearby pavilion gearing up for a church picnic. (How do I know it was churchlins, as we call them? Because we heard sweet hymns wafting by us on the breeze a bit later. Trust me, it was a very, very cool but unusual outdoor serenade.)

Something you can't see in this picture: a railroad track runs along parallel to the edge of the lake. But it is hidden in the trees behind the boaters. When a train came, rocking and rolling down the rails, it added its own wild, sweet music as part of the soundtrack to this scene.

As we were getting ready to swim, there were several small groups of people heading out onto the lake on boats of various kinds and sizes. I thought this group seemed colorful and fun. They looked quite small and insignificant against the backdrop of our green Pennsylvania hills.

There was also a group of two boats that came by a bit later, while we were swimming: a regular canoe (bright yellow) with a mother and two kids in, and a round rafty thing with several more children. The mother was trying to show the child wielding the oar in the second boat how to hold it and use it to make progress, but it wasn't going well.

The mother was shouting at them, and the kids were rowing in circles and screaming when they thought they were going to tip the whole thing over. (For alas, rowing a round rafty thing is not nearly as easy as rowing a canoe.)

It was quite a fracas. With all the noise, I couldn't tell if they were totally miserable or having the time of their lives. And then I, in the water, heard a child behind us on the beach (pointing to the shouter/screamers) saying to his parents, "I wish we were having as much fun as THEY are having!!!"

The song to accompany this photo of boaters on the dam is a favorite sailing tune: the Beach Boys, with Sloop John B.

Bonus link: a photo of the same park (the beach area this time) back in June.