I went kayaking for the first time, yesterday.

I was out on the Charles river for about an hour and a half. It definitely didn’t seem too long at the time. It was a lot of fun, in fact. Being in a kayak leaves you so close to the water. I wound up feeling as though my legs had been replaced by the boat – it felt very natural and integrated both with me and with the system of the river.

We spotted a bird that was almost certainly an oriole with a neon orange chest and black wings and head. We also spotted a large heron. It could’ve been a great blue heron, but we didn’t really get close enough to make an ID.

There was also a turtle and some of the more common waterbirds – a host of female mallards, Canada geese and an occasional seagull. Also, plenty of dragon flies and other little critters.

The Charles river, where it runs by Watertown and Cambridge (which is the part we paddled through) is very busy with various motor boats, canoes, and, of course kayaks. Both banks mostly contain public parks (and the occasional university boathouse) bounded on the outer edge by roads that are clearly visible from the water. Most of the times that we heard a motor and thought it was a boat, it turned out to be a truck on one of the roads.

My point is, there isn’t a whole lot of room for nature in the river. I was almost amazed that we saw anything interesting besides the trees on each side of the water.

My friends and I agreed that the river is prettiest from the inside. I would definitely go again.

I have to tell you, though. Next time I would stretch before and after. And possibly spend a month or so strength training first. I was in horrible pain last night. Today, I’m just deep-muscle sore.