![\"crowflies\"](\"http:\/\/woodyoutdoors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/crowflies.jpg\")
<\/a>Clutching our coffee cups we loaded into \u2018big blue\u201d and zoomed down the two-lane, country road. I repeated to myself, \u201cabout 5 miles as the crow flies.\u201d\u00a0 Really? Have you ever watched a crow fly? They zig-zag, slowly dip and dive, stop to harass any unsuspecting hawk or owl, then change course just to scrape up the last remaining parts of a road-killed rabbit or squirrel. In my opinion, if I were to go \u201cas the crow flies,\u201d we may be driving for 20 miles or more! As I rambled on to Pa about the directions we received, and how I compulsively needed to Google the origin of the phrase on my cell phone, he pointed to three crows flapping over the low-growing spruce trees just in front of us. \u201cThere\u2019s your GPS, now just follow them,\u201d he announced, sipping his coffee while holding back his laughter.<\/p>\n
After directing the truck over 10 miles of a bouncy, gravel road, we were yet to find Hidden Lake. Yes, I know what you\u2019re thinking. Why do you think they named it what they did? We did manage to spot some early warblers, a Ruffed grouse, and a shy Swainson\u2019s thrush, but still no crows and no lake. We turned the vehicle around, and headed back to our cottage. Hidden Lake would remain hidden!<\/p>\n I had to Google this, or even tap Wikipedia if I must. I then discovered our historical ignorance. The origin of this saying was from early British sailors who would keep a few crows in cages, on board their ships. Because crows supposedly avoided water, they would fly straight toward land when released from their crates, thus directing the sailors to the nearest land. In addition, since they kept the black birds in cages, it\u2019s also where the term \u201ccrow\u2019s nest\u201d came from as well. That was our problem! We were going about this backwards. If history was correct and crows did not like water, the birds we saw earlier in the morning were leading us away from Hidden Lake, not toward it!<\/p>\n We returned to the cottage as the sun began to settle in the western sky. Although it wasn\u2019t the body of water we were seeking earlier in the day, our rented cabin was only a short walk from another small lake, that also supplied a comfortable canoe that was tied up to an old wooden dock. As we began to paddle across the over-sized pond, two beautiful Common loons surfaced about 100 yards away and began calling their eerie, calls. Pa and I gently laid down the paddles and sat quietly for a few minutes, neither of us saying a word, but just listening as the calls echoed from shoreline to shoreline. The silence was broken when Pa grabbed his paddle and suggested we target a few trees that had fallen into the water on the far side to cast our lures. \u201cHow far do you think it is over to that side?\u201d Pa asked innocently. I paused, then replied, \u201cAbout a \u00bd mile as the crow flies!\u201d We both laughed and continued on our mini-adventure.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>