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Earthy scents fill the air and the gentle breeze blows around you, leaving soft

repose on the water. Other than the chirping of birds and the humming of insects, there are no sounds.

You have the place completely to yourself. In front of you, your red canoe bobs in the water,

waiting for you to begin your adventure. Picking up your smooth wooden paddle, you lay it across

the width of the canoe, and step in one foot at a time, feeling the boat rocking gently under your weight.

When you find your seat, the boat steadies. You nudge it further into the water,

freeing its stern from shore. Dipping your paddle in the water, you take a long stroke,

guiding the canoe forward across the smooth lake. You watch the way the brown water ripples around

your paddle as it changes its natural flow. The small splashes of your boat mingle with the singing birds,

humming cicadas, and rustling leaves. With each drop of water that runs off your paddle and falls

back into the lake, you feel more part of this place. You're so lucky to visit.

The warm sun glows above, drying the water that lands in your boat, and shimmering on the tiny waves

the lap at the sides of the canoe. In the center of the lake, where the water is the calmest,

you can see reflections of these parts fluffy white clouds. You become in tune with the rhythmic movement

of the paddle. Reach, pull, glide, reach, pull, glide. When you get to the middle of the lake,

you decide to take a break from paddling, instead letting your canoe float on the water,

making slow circles guided by the breeze. Closing your eyes, you allow the sound of nature to engulf you.

...