Yes, as soon as I saw that db had resurrected that photo I realized it would get a comment from you, Neal. We saw one on our trip to the Gunflint this year, too, but not as large as the one in the photo. I think they are fascinating and love to just sit on a dock or a rock and watch them. They are a little daunting on the biffy, but it never has kept me from getting my business done.

When I was a child I was terrified of spiders, even the tiny ones. I think it is one thing canoe-tripping sort of cured in me; somehow, there just seemed to be other things to be afraid of and once I learned how much fun it was to photograph them, I relaxed a lot. One time I photographed a brown recluse in an outhouse in Canada, and frankly, if I had known at the time how dangerous they are. . .why is it that a camera makes you think you are invincible?
That's sort of a family joke: moose in the water munching on vegetation, canoe approaching with Spartan1 paddling in the stern and Spartan2 in the bow with paddle on her lap and camera in her hand, "Get closer, closer, closer," she says. After a few more yards the comment comes from the stern paddler: "Lynda, you do realize that this is a WILD animal??"