Lauren McDonough

I know Lauren through some of her family friends that are friends of mine through rowing. I floated the idea out to her and on a Sunday evening Lauren, her friend, Sophie and her mother, Dani all came out on the boat.  Sundays after six are quiet on the water.  Everyone’s heading in to get ready for the week and the few boats out there were subdued.

Early summer is a special time of the year in Union Bay.  The water is high for a few months out of the year and the lily pads have not yet grown too thick.  This means there are lots of nooks and crannies of the lake to explore that are not around most of the year.  All the animals were out and about; beavers, raccoons, eagles, ospreys, herons and the usual plethora of ducks and geese.   Lauren’s mother made sure her hair was in the right place, and Sophie held her journal so she could see the words of the songs she was singing.  

For her second song we tucked in behind an island.  It's narrow and several logs must be  maneuvered around.  A heron was sitting on one.  Lauren began to sing, and the wind blew the boat gently into position and placed the heron right over her left shoulder.  She played and the heron watched ten, seven, then five feet away.   It sat quiet and curious before a kayak coming the other direction disturbed it.  Even then it did not go far and seemed to lean its head towards the music coming from the boat. @laurensingsalot