Walden Pond

I love Walden Pond!  Ever since moving here (three years ago?  four?) we've gone there as much as we could every summer.  If it's a hot spring, we can start as early as mid May.  If it's a very cold spring, we grin and bear the cold in early June.  Because we love Walden.



Oh my, where did this handsome man come from?  Could he be my HUSBAND!?  Yes!

Rather than swimming from the normal beach area, we head about half way around the pond each time to find a more secluded spot.  The beach is usually full of kids and smells like diapers, so naturally we try to avoid that.



There are little rocky beaches scattered around the pond, and everyone picks their favorite.  We tend to go to one of the larger ones, and have to share it with other people - but who cares!  We're not there to lay on a beach, we're there to swim!



Once you jump in (and you will, because it always feels cold at first) you'll notice millions of little (and sometimes not so little) fishies who will follow you around the shallows.



My mom and I always swim out to "the rocks".  It's a pile of rocks a ways out from shore that are tall enough you can stand on them and have your shoulders out of the water.  There are always tons of fish around the bottom of the rocks.



That's my best friend, Liza.  She also loves swimming at Walden!



And that's my sister Rachel.  She's an odd one, though she swims there more than I do!  I never feel like going after work.



Another thing I like about Walden is that I get to break out the water proof camera and take photos and videos!



The water is very clear there, even though the shallows do drop off suddenly into a GAPING ABYSS!



This is what it looks like on the bottom of the shallows, just past where the sand is.  They dumped sand around so people can be more comfortable jumping into the water.



My mom and I like to go swimming together on the weekends.  We always get there nice and early.  Today we went at 7:30am!



Another great thing about Walden is there are a billion chipmunks always running around by the water!  They're so cute, and not very afraid of people.



A few weeks ago, my mom saw a big snake there, or so she says...



And last week a tiny mole mistook my foot for a hole and ran right into it!  So fuzzy and soft!



Besides fish, there are also crayfish in the water.  They don't like to be disturbed, but I disturb them anyway, because they need to be knocked down a few pegs.



I don't think I'll ever get tired of Walden, though when I'm walking back up the hill to the parking lot after swimming, I do feel pretty tired of it.

But once I get back up to the car, I want to go running back down to the pond and jump back in.