Bring In The Clownst

To begin in the end, this is a shot of JB's van taken last evening when I finally got home from the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium. Now, back to the beginning.

The first day at the affair, JB left something charging and also left some switch on in the car. Once discovered, he also found that the battery was dead. No big problem, just need a jump start. Nothing much new here...yet.

So, we go about teaching and towing and have a great symposium until late Saturday (I think) when we get the car started with jumper cables. To make sure the battery gets charged up, JB and another instructor took a drive into town, left the car run while they enjoyed at least one whiskey and came back for the night. (There was lots more whiskey that night but I wasn't there and, besides, that's a whole different story).

Anyway, we finish the symposium and, what do you know, the battery is dead when we try to leave for home. We obviously needed a plan. Okay, it is a dead battery and needs to be jumped started once more. That was done and, late Sunday afternoon, we head home with a plan to not stop that engine until we get a new battery. Remember, friends, it is late Sunday and we are in northern Wisconsin, home of the tiny towns. But, ever resourceful, JB calls a buddy in Manitiwoc (right on our route). This as yet unmet friend agrees to buy a battery for the car. We are to meet the man at his home where, somehow, one of us non-electricians will install the thing (the friend is a lawyer). All will be well. We arrive before the battery purchaser gets there.

JB wonders aloud if we dare turn off the car. I indicate that it should be fine as the battery's arrival is seconds away. Ignition off. After two minutes we look at one another with the same question obviously hanging in the air: Will it start? Well, it does, instantly. (JB should have had all those whiskeys at the bar while the car was running).

Any way, I suggested JB keep the battery, maybe give it to his wife for her birthday (she, repordedly, did not appreciate the thought). And that is why there is a battery in the back of JB's van...even as I speak.

Paddle safe...
DS

I Am Off to
Play With the Big Kids

These aren't new pics, and this isn't a new theme. It's just that it's time for the annual Door County Sea Kayak Symposium. All my "stuff" is on the driveway, and JB is due to pic me up in about an hour. As usual, I am looking forward to time on the water, time with friends, reuniting with old friends and not reading newspapers.This year, I will be c0-leading an all day trip with my friend and colleague Sherri. Apparently, we are to take this 20 some mile jaunt and teach navigation, rescues, towing and the like along the way. Then, I will be doing a lunch talk on Weather Or Not To Go Out. In addition, I will be doing a class on the forward stroke and one on rolling. Full gig, don't you think?

Although I will likely monitor e mails, I won't be posting as I have no way to upload pics on my notebook computer (my newest toy).

Paddle safe...
DS

A Lean Week

Last week, with its 4th of July activities and our family get together, didn't leave much time for posting. It was great having the grandchildren here....and exhausting. Joe, now just over 2 years old, was a real go-go guy. He was either asleep or going 60 knots. It was fun, however, to watch him watching his first ever parade.

Still too young for boating, I starting breaking him in with the basic grunt work. He was more than willing to help Papa put away the straps when I returned from a short paddle.I teach all day tomorrow. Then, on Thursday, JB and I are off to the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium. It may be until next week that I get to post again. Meanwhile...

Paddle safe...

DS

Sometimes I sits and Thinks...

...Sometimes I just thinks. It's about knowing when to slow down, when to "drop out" and smell the roses. It's about taking time to take inventory and actually see, really see, with your soul the world around you and all its blessings. Okay, the feel-good cliche festival ends, but I remain in a mellow mood.

After two nights of bad insomnia (cause unknown), I got 12 hours of sleep last night before waking to the wonderful sounds that only a 2+month-old grand daughter can make. My grandson and his mother are due into Milwaukee in a few hours. Sun in law #2 is due tomorrow. My house, like my life, will be full of wonderful gifts. Suddenly, I feel great, relaxed, in the flow, bliss...okay, a few more cliches. Life is good. Kayaking is wonderful and there is so much more.

So, I sits and take it all in and feel gratitude. I don't know who wrote it, but it must have been a wise person: A poor life this when full of care I have no time to sit and stare.

Paddle safe...
DS

A Shout Out
to the
Risk Takers

I've written before how Sherri, a local paddler, has started a paddling school in these uncertain economic times. Add to her ranks Chris who many of us visited during the recent Inland Sea Symposium. He has taken the risk a might further and has opened a new kayak store, Boreal Shores Kayaking.Housed in a lovely building near the Apostle Islands has got to be an ideal spot for such a business. The store is lovely and there is a nice assortment of NDK boats, enough to make one drool and part with his or her money.
Nigel, himself was there to help make the opening unique. It is a land of short summers, and I wish Chris well.
Paddle safe...
DS

K.I.S.S.A rose is a rose is a...you know. A rose has it's own natural beauty, and all we have to do is appreciate it. When I wear my photographer's hat, I find that the most important thing is to see. Not just to look, but to see. See the picture and the infinite number of little ones as well. There, in all its simplicity, I find beauty in nature's art, and all I have to do is record it. Simple.

Paddle Safe...
DS

A Few
OdDs & Ends

First the odd: It's Derrick's birthday today. I don't know exactly how old he is, but he certainly has already packed a lot into the years he's lived. A well known blogger and somewhat competent paddler (joking, love this guy), he brings to kayaking a free style creative nature that is apparent in his writing, his conversations and his methods of teaching. I don't know, but he may be color blind or, on the other hand, he is a minimalist who always wears black....and only black. So, if you see him today, be nice to him. What the hell, it's only for a day.

A Shout Out

To the two boiler makers (I know that's a beer with a whiskey shot, but these two went to Purdue) who were kind enough to say hello at the Inland Symposium and compliment these pages. I appreciate it. I enjoyed talking to you two bright, Midwest-educated paddlers with taste.

Now, because Lady Linda is with daughter #1 and her daughter, Squeaky, I must walk His Majesty, Ansel. All those years of schooling and training, and it comes to this. Well, chop wood and carry water. The poop won't pick itself up.

Paddle safe...
DA