Spoiling the magic

Went out on the river for my daily dose of nature wonderment: water, sky, woods, are always soothing and beautiful, familiar, yet slightly different every day. Yesterday turned out to be one of those days when the river is really magical. Maybe it was something about the angle at which the sun hit the water at this time of the year, maybe the air temperature, or something in the life cycle of the river creatures... I found myself gliding on an opalescent mirror reflecting hundreds of flickering silver dots jumping out of the water, a river version of exuberant fireflies. In the distance now and then a massive fish would pierce the unctuous liquid mirror without disturbing it and then fall back with a satisfied resounding splash. What a show!

Today I went back for an encore to the same place, at the same time of the day. The magic was gone! How could this be? Looked around, all the elements were there, but no live silver dancing above the water, no big fishes in sight. I finally realized that one element had been added to the mix: an ever so slight breeze was streaking the water surface creating tiny ruffles. Seems the presence of these tiny imperfections was all it took to blur small fishes’ vision, enough to make them stay put. The magic cycle of life was interrupted .

Today small and big fishes remained hungrier.
I was left wanting for the magic to happen.
The flies will live to see another day.