Bigelow Hollow Pond

I've been going to Bigelow Hollow State Park since I was 16 yrs old. I'm not going to tell you how many years that's been...trust me, it's been a lot of years.  Over the years the park has seen many improvements as well as some changes that I can't call improvements really. They have built many more side avenues for fishing and picnicing. There are other areas for parking tucked into sections that used to be all forest. They even have a smaller boat launch that seems to be primarily for the exclusive use of fishermen. This exclusive boat launch is where I headed with my kayak on this day. Why would I do that? Beats me!

I drove all the way to the 'top' of the park; I saw all the people (a lot of people for a Friday) busily unpacking items; backing vehicles towards the water and dragging small children in the general direction of the footpaths. There were dogs barking (on leashes thankfully); people discussing how best to proceed with too many items to fit comfortably in their boats; children sprinting excitedly around the car for no reason other than to blow off steam while the adults "waste time" making decisions; and a general feeling of low grade chaos in the air.
Without really knowing why or even thinking about it actually, I found myself slowly driving around the circle (watching the various scenes of life unfold as I went) and heading back where I came from. My gut told me I didn't feel like dealing with that many people nor that level of thought. I didn't want to have to worry about running over one of those little kids or dogs that I know very well will all be running amuck very soon. I didn't want to have to use my 'big people' voice to subdue someone else's kids or dogs either for that matter. I just didn't want to deal with any of it....not today. This was my day off and I wanted peace and quiet.

I found myself back at the Bigelow Hollow boat launch which I later found out (strange that I never knew this all these years) is part of a totally seperate body of water. It's not Mashapaug Lake and does not connect to it in any way. At first I was dismayed by this discovery but that was before I really started to explore this pond. It is wonderful and huge! It's so huge in fact that I find it odd that it's called a pond at all. It seems more like a lake....but then I really don't know the criteria required to be a pond or a lake...perhaps it's not about size. (I've often heard that size doesn't matter anyway, right girls?)
I paddled my kayak around for over an hour before I decided to settle somewhere. And I had no problem deciding where to settle once I saw the huge rock and shaded path that looked so inviting from the center of the pond. I saw water lilies; some kind of bright yellow blossoms that stick out from the water but are not opened as yet and some really eye catching purple flower that grows in stalks along the edges. The effect was really beautiful...and I'm sorry to say I didn't take any pictures because I was too engrossed to think about my camera.

I spent all day on that pond, either kayaking and exploring the various nooks and crannies; lounging in the sun; playing in the water or reading my book in the shade while nibbling on fruit and cheese. I only had one visitor and he was quite temporary. An older man, quite fit and good looking I must say, suddenly appeared bid me good day.  He dropped his towel on the rock and jumped off into the water. As he was leaving he said he hoped he hadn't disturbed me and he was gone in a flash...the best kind of unexpected visitor I'd say.
I had a very relaxing day there and will go again I'm sure. I'll try to get pictures of the flowers next time. I was very happy there didn't seem to be any underwater monsters at THIS pond and certainly no gobs of green guck clinging to my paddles. I did hear a few frogs but never saw a single turtle all day.