Thursday I woke up around 8:30am and went for a paddle. There weren't many boats out - the fishermen were already back in and sailboats hadn't yet headed out - so it was just me and the wind. A huge flock of cormorants (probably 300+) was streaking across the lake, describing a line straight from the CN tower towards Jack Darling beach.

The first time I encountered a massive flock of these birds, they were coming straight at me. It kind of freaked me out since they're travelling above the water at about chest height and moving fast. I wondered how badly it would hurt to take a shot from one or two of them but didn't have to worry. As soon as the lead bird sensed I was there, it veered sharply up. Since they follow so closely, each bird copies automatically the one ahead of it. It was actually quite graceful as hundreds of birds lifted, one by one, to pass over my head and then settled back down just beyond me to a few feet above the water.

This particular flock chose to go around me so I just sat and watched as the cormorant express swept past me at eye-level. There was some comic relief because a perfectly white seagull had tucked himself into the brown line of birds (probably figuring they had a tip on a garbage buffet somewhere) and was flapping away like mad to keep up.

The wind was perfect for riding waves (small ones) and I had one of the best paddles in recent weeks. It can be pretty frustrating learning to ride waves but gradually the direction, pattern, speed etc are starting to make sense and I'm catching more rides. Maybe it's luckier to be learning on a lake where there are decent, but rarely giant-sized, waves. Naw. We had that one day with big waves and it was so much fun, I didn't want to go in! Wish we had more like that.

So this evening is the MLS All-Star game at Bmo Stadium! Once again I'm reminded how great it is to be a seasons ticket holder. I doubt I'll ever let these tickets go! Carrie, Jackie, Ryan and I are sitting in East 109 and Attila will be sitting across the stadium with the boys. Toby and Larry will be decked out in their West Ham gear, I'm sure.