O Canada

wtf Canada!

Today turned out entirely unlike what I expected which, in retrospect, is just what I needed.

 

After my brother's wedding last night we vowed to sleep in and sleep in we did. The hour for church passed as we lolled in bed and by the time we finally arose and figured out what to do the sun was high and the air was warm.

 

Which put us in the mood for the first kayak trip of the season even though sitting on the porch reading the Times had its appeal as well.

 

The sun was high and hot but we had a nice breeze to dry the sweat and that made the whole thing tolerable. We paddled up and across a large dammed river and made our way to a cove where I knew we could find some shade and a few fish who might like to come and play.

 

The swarm of Blue Gills were right where I expected them to be and they hit a Rapalla floating minnow with abandon. A couple of small Bass came up for a peek but they're too wary and I'm too impatient to wait them out. Blue Gills were fine sport. We anchored up in the shade for a chat and rest and for a few quiet moments to take it all in.

 

Then we got hungry and lacking food made the hour long paddle back to the car.

 

The impoundment that we were on sees its fair share of recreators. Personal watercraft zip about, water skiers water ski, power boats race up and down and there is the occassional angler hugging the shore in search of drop offs and structure.

 

Sadly, there's a stunning amount of garbage floating. Bottles, balls, bobbers and, in abundance, bait containers. We picked up what passed our way as we usually do; those with motors don't have the opportunity to see and access the trash like those who paddle.

 

In our Walmart culture I've grown accustomed to seeing goods made in every part of the world. I don't lament it. While I appreciate goods made in the USA, it's not really what we do anymore; we consume. It did surprise me however to find that each of the three worm containers that I scooped from the surface once contained products of Canada. One would think you wouldn't have to range so far for a good earthworm. Heck, turn over any patch of leaves in our neighborhood and you could get a day's worth of worms. I suppose even Canadians have to earn a living.

One cove was jammed with every variety of trash

Arriving back I town we hit the local grocery and quaffed iced tea and sushi while doing the shopping. As they say, you shouldn't shop hungry and we ended up with a bunch of red meat and little else. Fortunately Ann had the good sense to do some shopping this evening while I attended to laundry and the chilling of beer.

 

Monday is upon us. Back to Raleigh. Back to reality.