Lucie, swinging a double-blade Bending Branches Slice Solo Canoe Paddle
There were no storms last night, and I got my first
full night’s sleep in a comfortable 72-degrees.
I started the morning slowly. I
was awakened first by the sun at 7a.m.
There were then a couple large, loud, raucous, screaming birds directly
over my tent to make sure the day had begun.
Once they had guaranteed I wasn’t going to roll over and doze off again,
they took off and went about their business.
In their place, I could hear a swarm of humming, buzzing insects that
must have numbered ah---well, you know, a swarm. Soon they also drifted off. I was then left with the sweetest chittering
and twittering of small birds in the cedars behind the tent. Opening the tent to identify them would
likely scare them off, so I just laid back and enjoyed the concert.
With the rear windows of the trailer open, I could
also hear Jean moving about in the galley.
It was 8a.m. when I rolled out of the tent. With all the commotion coming from the galley,
I had anticipation of at least coffee being ready. She saw me walking down the hill and came out
to meet me. Ah! Maybe that means breakfast is ready. Instead she said, “Did you sleep well?” Without a pause for a response, she
continued, “The holding tanks are full and need to be emptied.” No coffee, no breakfast, just holding tanks
full of sh--- , and I haven’t even been using the facilities in the RV, and we
haven’t used the on-board shower.
After breaking everything down and hauling the camper
to the dump station, I found a kindred spirit in a neighbor when I
returned. Alvin, our next door camper,
walked out to the driveway with a wry smile on his face. I stopped to say good morning, but he greeted
me instead with, “Ah, been off to empty the tanks, huh?” To his chuckle he added, “I emptied ours
yesterday, and then the kids came by last night. Now I have to go dump them again. Kids have absolutely no concept of water,
what it is, or how to manage it.” They
were apparently lavishing themselves with long, drawn-out showers. It can always be worse, I guess is the
message to myself.
Once I was done with setting everything back up again,
Jean was back from her two hour trip home to take care of her birds and
cats. Then, finally, we got to think
about breakfast, or brunch. With
pancakes, blueberries, bacon, and at long last, coffee, it was a breakfast, or
brunch, worth waiting for.
Going from parent to grandparent doesn’t change
anything except the stress is greater, the patience is shorter, and the
frustration is that much stronger. God
doesn’t have children being born to young parents for any reason other than
they are physically and emotionally more flexible and adaptable. If the wisdom that comes with experience was
critical in the equation, we wouldn’t be having kids until we reach age 60, but
obviously the flexibility of youth trumps wisdom hands down. I have had mixed results with trying to get
the granddaughters interested in paddling---some great times, but also some
catastrophes. After the last foray out
with the girls, I threw my hands in the air and swore, “That’s it. I’m never taking them in the canoes
again. I just can’t handle the stress,
the yelling, the fights.” Finally I
cooled enough to reason that I could stick with only taking one out at a time—personal
time, me and her, and thus end the sibling battles. Today was Lucie’s day. She had the 15-ft. Mohawk Odyssey and
single-blade paddle. After a failed
attempt to teach her proper paddle strokes, I traded her single-blade for my
double-blade, and she did much better.
If she learned to enjoy paddling, she would then have the motivation to
learn more technical paddle strokes.
Until then, she could just have a good time and enjoy herself. With no sister along to stir the sibling
rivalry pot, we both just enjoyed ourselves.
The lake is surrounded with riprap. So even though the air was calm and the water
flat, I had to keep reminding her that the shore is not her friend. It would grind both her and the canoe up and
spit them out in pieces. She needed to
paddle well away from the shore in open water.
Once she could handle the boat comfortably, she could then close with
the shore and enjoy paddling through the reeds and constricted channels. With a few pointers, she continued to
improve, and after a couple more hours, was managing tracking and maneuvering
with great confidence. In the end, she
said she enjoyed the boat and had a great time.
Any way you cut it, that’s a win.
Canoeing for a smile.
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