Nautical news from Outer Podunk:
After more than a year of waiting because of her illness and surgery, Fellow Traveler got in her kayak this weekend and paddled for about a half a mile. She was positively alight with happiness when she returned to shore.
Meanwhile, yours truly -- someone who, despite living my whole life in the Water-Winter-Wonderland has never kayaked or canoed or even been in a boat by myself, had my first kayak lesson. It was in the lagoon bordering a friend's house on a lake in Ogemaw County, north of Outer Podunk. I'm proud to say that, with some shoreside coaching, I was able to travel around in a kind of funky ellipse a few times, and I only hit the neighbors' docked watercraft twice. FT said I did "extremely well for someone who's never even rowed a boat before," which I think is a polite way of noting that I didn't drown.
But, as long as I'm clad in a lifejacket, I can get into watery recreation; yes, I can. And fate further pointed in this direction when one of my neighbors displayed a nearly new Old Town canoe on his lawn for an astoundingly low asking price. With paddles and foam carrier yet.
Now I just have to obtain a red tasseled toque and learn a few of those jaunty old voyageur songs as I prepare to join my waterworthy fellow Michiganians on the lakes and rivers.
2 comments:
We ALWAYS wear our life jackets. Yesterday, we were out on a little river in our canoe, lifejackets on. Hey, it was slightly chilly out. Well, it was so shallow, that we had to pole the canoe along with the paddles a third of the time. As it turned out, the life jackets kept the rain off of our backs.
Oh... I love kayaking with a passion. I can't wait to get back into it one of these days. :-) It's one of the best ways I've ever found to chill out and enjoy the watery side of God's creation. And laugh at the people in speedboats who thumb their noses as they roar past... then crash into a sandbank. Hehe.
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