Kayaking on White Rock Lake.

Today, I got to have all three - glowing green trees, child cheeks, and good friends.  Add to that, the gently lilting waves of a beautiful lake, and a kayak for one.

I also get to cross one more thing off my Dallas bucket list - kayaking on White Rock Lake.  As part of a meetup group, in exchange for helping pick up trash on the shoreline, we got to kayak for free around the lake for a few hours.  They gave us trash bags, those grabber things, water, and snacks, and shoved us in the water.

Thankfully, I've kayaked once before on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia so it wasn't completely new to me.  I was excited to do something different for the day, to exercise my body in a different way, and to be just "me" - nothing attached to me, no one else to take care of.  Just me and the water.  It was quiet. Comforting.  Invigorating.

I took this photo right before getting in the water...

Jessica and I are ready to set out for adventure...

On the open waters...

The most interesting things I gathered were a wiffle ball and quarter-full jug of iced tea.  There was also lots of styrofoam - the worst offender!  Oh, I also saw a HUGE snake which, thankfully, did not come anywhere near my grabber.  For this perfectionist, it was tough leaving behind the trash I couldn't reach or was too tangled in the branches or reeds.  I wanted my piece of shoreline to be pristine!   But alas, that wasn't totally possible.

Here we are afterwards, slightly wet, sweaty, sore hands, and happy.

A lot of days, I "miss it."  But today, I didn't.  Even when I returned home to my lovelies, I was able to engage in play with them for the rest of the day, soaking up all that life has to offer.  I entered more deeply into life today, and it felt great.