Afternoon Hike and Sunset by the Lake

An afternoon hike that we let run all the way into sunset. The trail started on a long wooden boardwalk over a marsh — last year's grass still flattened and straw-colored on both sides, new green just starting to push through it, bare trees behind. Early May here still looks half like winter.

We sat on the boardwalk for a while before moving on. The trail eventually came out at a lake ringed with cedars, lily pads spread across the near end, water standing in the reeds along the shore. We stayed put there instead of finishing the loop, watched the sun drop behind the far treeline, and hung around until the sky went from pink to a deep blue over the water. Walked back out in the near-dark.