My friend Angela sent out an urgent call last week that she had dropped her bracelet in Lake Jordan. She marked the area where she remembered it slipping from her arm and I assured her that we would find it. On Tuesday afternoon AquaKnott and I left ahead of the afternoon rush traffic. We were on a salvage mission for sure because AK was armed with his underwater metal detector.
We found Angelas marker and peered into the dark water. A scouting foray to the bottom found an almost foot thick layer of lyngbya. I had heard they had an algae problem in Jordan Lake but never imagined it would be like this. I thought, This is going to be a challenge.
We determined boundaries and decided to set two floats connected with a line and move the markers toward shore one arm length at a time. AKs metal detector kept getting weak hits but the matted hair-like carpet reduced its effectiveness. I decided to do a manual search, closed my eyes and started feeling my way through the algae. The mud on the bottom of this lake is dark and stirred readily making visibility absolute zero.
I sifted through mussel shells and sticks and acorn hulls, squeezing the algae like a sponge hoping to feel whatever it embedded. Thirty-seven minutes into the dive I felt the bracelet entwined in a thick clump of lyngbya. Angela met me at the pier with my standard fee, a cold Corona with lime. Being a proper southern girl, she also insisted that I stay for supper.
Jarred, Angela, me, the children and the dogs sat before a picture window overlooking the late afternoon calmness of the lake. We feasted on salad, lasagna, corn, beans, and garlic bread.
As I drove away, a wild turkey flew across the road in front of me. Her long and magnificent flight against the setting sun was as if nature offered an impressive salute to end a relaxing and fruitful afternoon.
I remember saying to myself. Life is good!
We found Angelas marker and peered into the dark water. A scouting foray to the bottom found an almost foot thick layer of lyngbya. I had heard they had an algae problem in Jordan Lake but never imagined it would be like this. I thought, This is going to be a challenge.
We determined boundaries and decided to set two floats connected with a line and move the markers toward shore one arm length at a time. AKs metal detector kept getting weak hits but the matted hair-like carpet reduced its effectiveness. I decided to do a manual search, closed my eyes and started feeling my way through the algae. The mud on the bottom of this lake is dark and stirred readily making visibility absolute zero.
I sifted through mussel shells and sticks and acorn hulls, squeezing the algae like a sponge hoping to feel whatever it embedded. Thirty-seven minutes into the dive I felt the bracelet entwined in a thick clump of lyngbya. Angela met me at the pier with my standard fee, a cold Corona with lime. Being a proper southern girl, she also insisted that I stay for supper.
Jarred, Angela, me, the children and the dogs sat before a picture window overlooking the late afternoon calmness of the lake. We feasted on salad, lasagna, corn, beans, and garlic bread.
As I drove away, a wild turkey flew across the road in front of me. Her long and magnificent flight against the setting sun was as if nature offered an impressive salute to end a relaxing and fruitful afternoon.
I remember saying to myself. Life is good!
I'm hungry now though 
