A family reunion takes a lot of planning, not the least of which is deciding where to get together. Even though there are only four siblings (plus spouses) it was astounding to see the number of e-mails that it took to decide on a location and a date and all the other details. My sister Karen came up with the winning (in all ways) location, Crystalwood Lodge, conveniently located between her home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Crater Lake. Located on 130 acres at the north edge of the Klamath Basin, between the marshland and the pine/fir forest, the building began as a family home in 1892 and fortunately has been updated a few times since.



Besides seeing the family and catching up on the current news as well as rehashing our youths, one of the highlights of the reunion for Al and me was the fact that we could go canoeing almost from the Lodge's front door. Crystal Springs arises a few hundred yards down the waterway toward the marshland and the water is as that name suggests: crystal clear. In the morning hours it was also mirror still and I furiously snapped photo after photo of incredible images, only a couple of which I will impose upon you here.



































In addition to the many species of birds we watched, from warblers to greater yellowlegs, there were also squirrels, chipmunks and this turtle who wasn't alarmed at all by our silent passing. The advantage of wildlife watching by canoe is that you can glide along so quietly that there is practically no alarm factor, except for the yellowlegs whose approach distance was measured in tens of yards instead of tens of feet. They would sound the alarm, lift off, circle around and land ahead of us where they would have to repeat the process in a few minutes as we advanced along the shoreline. On the other hand, the Virginia rail that was feeding at the edge of the reeds paid us no mind at all.








This is a shot over the misty marsh as the sun came up.




















Here's the motley crew: yours truly on the left, then sister Karen, brother Ed and sister Lonna.