I continued my walk around Water Ranch Lake, enjoying the scenery all around me with very few people to disturb the ambiance.

Even the ducks seemed serene — not a care in the world — not a duck blind anywhere.

Here we see a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata — more commonly known as a dragonfly. There were more flying about — some flying in tandem — I think it must have been the mating season.

Some enjoyed perching on stalks of marsh grasses. I zoomed in to get a better shot of this dragonfly — I was only partially successful.

Coincidentally, I ran into a fellow from Canada who was photographing dragonflies. He had a bigger zoom lens and was probably able to get better close-ups. But this one is not too bad.

Continuing alone, I found a picturesque lake with one duck paddling around. He must have thought he was in paradise.

In another part of the pond, I encountered a small flock of ducks who seemed to be enjoying the nice warm day as much as I was.

And there is nothing like a babbling brook to relax one's mind and let any troubles just float away.

Maybe it is the sound of such a brook that just makes everything seem right with the world.

This looks like a couple of yucca trees. It makes me think I'm back in Lowe's Garden — although we don't currently have any of this variety for sale.

A nice ramada sits on the far bank. It would have been enjoyable to go sit and relax there but I could not find a path to get there. Maybe next visit.

Something caught my eye high up in the sky. It appears to be a large hawk or small eagle. Hunting probably. There were certainly lots of smaller birds for it to dive-bomb and then devour for lunch.

That horizontal white streak was the contrail from an airplane, probably a commercial airliner.