The pale line is the rippled reflection of a tree trunk. It's a tree in which herons sometimes perch, but I hadn't seen one there yet this year. When I finished taking the photograph, I looked up into the tree, and there was a heron--but not in the perching posture I'm used to seeing. This heron had half-opened its wings (as if akimbo) and stretched its neck and beak up to the sky, with the light of the setting sun full on its chest. It was an amazing sight, and the heron kept the position, so still, for some time. I didn't take a picture because herons don't like having cameras aimed at them, but the little bit of grey you can see in the photograph on the left-hand edge might be part of the heron's reflection.
The heron was still in the tree when I paddled back an hour later, but it had turned in on itself for grooming. Even the sublime needs self-maintenance.
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