Monday, July 21, 2008

New hobby

I think I've found a new hobby. Kayaking. I kind of love it. I'd canoed with family or at camp half a dozen times when I was younger, but last month when a spur of the moment family canoe trip produced uneven numbers ,I volunteered to take out a one man kayak...AND LOVED IT. Think 'choose your own adventure' in the water. No frustration with an inexperienced paddling partner, no uneven expenditure of effort, no middle back cramp after two hours due to your own poor posture. You select your speed and the effort required to maintain it (no guilty twinge when you want to slack off). You pick your own line and with a shallower draft, a kayaker I discovered, can go places a canoe with two occupants and a fully laiden cooler, cannot. (Sorry Dan and Tracy...) And the opportunity to get ahead of the group, into glassy water and quiet, was probably the biggest draw. Paddling quietly down the river with the group kept bairly in sight behind me, gave me the chance to see cautious wildlife before the munchkin chatter made then submerge, skedaddle, or scatter. (It may also have given me the chance to try to get rid of an annoying halter top tan line while in the sunny sections of the river...tee hee hee)