Sunday, April 17, 2016

Then a fabulous afternoon!

OH what a great day this turned out to be.

Kayaking in Smith Lake

I love to have these different adventures during my day---  all sorts of them.  Now some people may just think of this as "life" or "the weekend" but I like to frame my days in terms of adventures....  because that is what  a joyful person such as moi likes to do.  

Little cabin in the woods
I was really happy to have my good friend the Mad-Science teacher come and visit and go for a walk.  I gave her a mostly complete tour of the ranch, but for actually entering the Way-Back field (as opposed to the field and the back field) and the Pine Plantation.  Mostly she wanted to see the cabin.  
woods road

She was very impressed with it, which the MA was pleased to hear, and I hope she and her hubby can come back soon where they can be given a detailed account of the making of it by someone who paid attention, which was not me most of the time.  HAHA.  

Retaining wall by the cabin
She loved the stone fence thing here and all various pieces of craftsmanship that have gone into it.  I guess it is fine, but I really preferred the rustic path up to the cabin that was there before....  but since it is not mine (HA well technically it truly is, but that is another story)- I guess I should say that I don't feel a lot of ownership in it, it's all good.  I also say that if one is going to nag at ones spousal unit about taking cabin photos, one should clear the crap off of one's porch so it looks picturesque and photo worthy, but someone is not a particularly visual person so he doesn't see that sort of thing.  
Anyway, it was so nice to walk with someone!!  And no bugs and no mosquitos (which are their own category of irritating) and lots of singing birds and of course the spring peepers.


So!  Back to my adventures:  I got to kayak!!  It was a perfect day, even if a little windy.  And yes the water was cold and I was careful.  I got a wetsuit to wear so I can go this early for my paddles, and I did not regret having that on at all.  It was plenty warm, but I wasn't too hot.  I did get really thirsty, and I am glad I had water.  Turns out when I took it off, the suit was soaking wet.  Go figure, right?  Lol. 

I did find myself starting off with some major claustrophobia, as this thing - as it is supposed to be- is tight!!  and right up around my neck.  eeeeekkkk!!  I have issues.  But as I was sloshing around in the water, with my crocs and my little neoprene booties I was surely grateful for the protection.

This is not nearly as cute as my bare feet sticking up out of my kayak!  

Paddling was just awesome.  To be out in the quiet - NO boats were out- and all of the wildlife that I tried to sneak up on to with no luck.  I saw lots of ducks- Mallards, wood ducks, mergansers and some others I couldn't see well enough, but that was in flight.  Now that I have a feel for where they hang out, I will be prepared for them.  And I will try to be even more quiet....  I can be if I want.  And I thought I was, but they must sense the vibrations or something.



I cannot begin to describe the peace that I feel on the water or the way that my muscles immediately remember what has to be done.  My brain slips into a calm that happens very rarely, and I never have the thoughts of being insufficient, or that I am not doing enough for myself or others, or worrying about things that I have no control over.  It is the perfect meditation and I am in my artistic zone.


Getting a new camera is a blessing and a curse.  When I see something I want to just capture the image, and not have to stop a moment to remind myself to check the settings and figure out which button to use to change the f-stop, or all the things that are not quite automatic yet.  The blessing is that the images that are emerging from this camera make me smile.  And my new editing program is absolutely amazing.

But I still do have this wonderful phone camera that doesn't let me down either- sometimes I just have to use it for the speed!  

Smith Lake county Park

I got off the flowage after just and hour and 20 minutes as the wind amped up and I decided to call it an afternoon.  It was a lovely thing, but sometimes you just have to know when to say when.  The good news is that today I am picking up my new baby kayak!!!  And so people who want to go 'yaking with me- I have a second one meow!!!  And I have dry bags, PFDs, paddles and may (if I have something in the house) provide snacks as well  Lol.

So, after returning the MA's truck to him and found that he was going to be gone AGAIN until 8 or 9 pm (I don't care if you think I am being selfish and uncaring- I'm tired of tax season.  And he gets lots of sympathy, so don't have too much pity, lol)  I put out a pathetic text to my mad-second son and asked when a good time to come over would be!!  I miss those babies, and haven't seen Greg and Sarah for a couple weeks and I missed their faces.  As well as needed some company.  So the next adventure: holding babies and playing with Greggy!!


Ruthie!!   
A typical Oswald type day- get all the projects started!

This child is obsessed with tractors!!

I got to see the animals and pet the doggies and see the new berry patch being fenced in....  just so much fun to hang out with them for a while.

Anyway, that was my good day yesterday- I am thrilled to say that I do not feel the effects of kayaking in the LEAST.  I am so grateful for the school gym and my weight lifting- it really gives me the ability to do whatever I want and do it well- well at least well enough!  So off to a new day, it is about time for me to go get the truck, pick up some tax returns from the Phillips office, get my new kayak and pick out some accessories for it, get horse feed, and then get home for lunch.  Lol!  Ambitious I know. #haveanadventure

But that is the joy of the weekends and spring!



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