"Snow Lessons"

Well if you can learn something new every time you go for a paddle it kind of enhances the paddling experience for me and if not that, then at least the stories are livlier.

Today I found out that when I padle head on into a snow squall my eyes hurt like hell and couldn't adjust to the beating. Now I have paddling into what seemed like torrential rains and never felt the same annoyance or pain on the eyes. This face must have been the one I paddled with all the way to Portugal Cove and was relieved to be able to turn around and head back to St Philips and let the snow pelt the back of my head.

"Caught In The Headlights"

Well if it was possible I guess it could look like this. Playing with the camera on the water again Stan? Anyways, during one of the rain outbursts, I took shelter inside my drysuit.

"Looks Familiar..."

 

Well I never like looking at myself in photos, just others and other things like scenery. Sometimes I can cover myself with gear and it ain't so bad for me to look at. Pam Burry took this shot on a paddle in Tors Cove not too long ago. It was an excellent paddle and I and everyone I believe had a great time. This was a candid shot so she caught me "unawares" which serves me right for catching so many others in similar shots. Thanks Pam and I like this picture.

Now this brings me to the subject of taking pictures on the water. I realize that some do not like to be in photos, especially closeups, (myself), so when taking photos in a group I always try to do with some sense of decorum as I believe most would. The groups we paddle with are pretty good for allowing me to post their images on my blog and certainly my blog would be boring without those I paddle with. I thank them but ya just never know when I might pop a candid shot of you....unawares, heh, heh, heh....;-).

"The East Coast Trail"

Well Warming up to spring, you might say, so I took this afternoon off and did a hike on part of our Eastcoast Trail here in Newfoundland. It is a bit icey to say the least and trecherous in some places. I had to be extremely careful in a lot of spots but this is only due to the recent cold tempeatures we've been having. The dogs didn't seem to have any problem though. Most of the snow is gone so if we had just one warm day I am sure the rest would melt away. The scenery is always captivating along this trail and when the sun is shining, regardless of the cold, it just becomes refreshing.

"Splasher"

 We were sitting in Portugal Cove on a beach having a lunch break and watching the last bit of high tide swell up around our eating area. I thought jeez, there might be a picture here. I decide to sacrifice myself for a wet shot hoping like heck that I wasn't gonna get washed out. I have to say though that for November in Newfoundland the lake waters are colder than the ocean water.

"Blog Author"

Well as I was heated from the paddle in the Distress Cove and Island Head "Lop", I decided to snap a shot for prosperity purposes.lol I am pretty much soaked from saltwater spray, sweat and fog mist and all very refreshing on this warming day on September 27th, 2008.

"Moi"

 Heading to Chance Cove from Rantem. Sept. 6th, 2008.

"what the ....."

 Well ever now and then ya got to have a freaky picture. While we were cleaning our boats in the fresh water at St. Philips this evening after our paddle we were all bobbing around in the water so I thought I'd get a shot of "me mug" with my head and my camera under water. Man I wish there were better subjects for my underwater photo practise. The camera does work under water though.The camera is an Olympus 1030W and I still have to get use to it but the "odd" picture does come out!!!

"Me And A Berg"

 Sometimes I get in a shot too.

"The Shuttle"

 Not the space one but the kayak one. Probably jammed in as tight as they are in the shuttle though. Thanks to the use of Gerry's Volvo and Kokatat for their bright yellow interior. The beginning of our Argentia kayak trip this past Sunday.

"Safe & Sound"

 A friendly chat after an awesome paddle at our take out site in Fox Harbour about 15 km car ride from the Argentia ferry terminal and a bout a 20 km paddle wait for a SW wind and you'll do it no time. Thanks also to Malcolm for the paddling tips on beam seas during our Swale Island paddle at the retreat as we had the perfect conditions to use them.

"Have Home Will Travel"

 This was from a hike on a trail behind the Health Science Center in St. John's that goes up a bunch of stairs to the Botanical Gardens. I was taking the dogs for a walk at about 2030h and almost stepped on this little critter. I was surprised that Brandy our smaller dog did not notice it first. So I stopped, dropped and shot it.

"The Group"

The white water group at The Ruins on the lower Terra Nova river during our Kayak Newfoundland Retreat for the May long weekend. Needless to say again everyone was stoked to paddle with Bryan Smith and Mark Dykeman of our club.

"Me"

Just happy to have another opportunity to paddle. Swale Island bound.

"I Love This Country!!!!"

Paddling near shore reminded me of a saying my mother had when she new my brothers were in from fishing, "home is the sailor, home from the sea", it always stuck in my head. A safe paddle today.

"Sore Shoulders"

 
Well I've slacked off in working out for about a week. My shoulders needed a break I figure. I had a cold for about a week as well. First time I've been near this ill in a while. Few years at any rate. Well tonight still a bit tired....well a lot tired I trudged to the gym for about and hour of body torment or at least it felt like that for a while but I am always amazed that no matter how bad I feel going in I always feel so much better coming out. That occurrence has not failed me yet. Many circumstances and excuses may be dreamt up for not going but the only real one I believe that would ever really be true is "Gone Kayaking"!

"...bravely serving the cause of the empire...."

I've thought about these words alot lately, not necessarily because this is the letter my Grandmother received when her husbands' ship was destroyed at sea during the second world war, but for these reasons; I was wondering where my love, my brothers' love, and my sons' love for water came from, I was thinking that sometimes you really have to know where you are coming from to get where you are going to, and was wondering how my life and my sons' life is going to change with his decision to enlist in the Canadian Forces. There are and were a few members of my family in the forces over the years and I've grown up listening to some interesting stories from my uncles and nephews and nieces. Gran gave me this letter out of shoe box where she stored mementos. I was about 12 I guess. It happened when I'd be washing her windows getting ready for spring and during a break she'd bring out this shoe box. It was her time capsule of sorts but to me it was a window to the past to history precious to her and our family, that I always was so intrigued with.

So maybe this has nothing to do with kayaking and maybe everything. Maybe the steps my son has yet to take will simply be in the ones of those lay ed down years ago and maybe our lives will be understood by the telling of our own history in our inadvertent quests for what we think may be right for each of us as individuals. I see no sense in war, but I am compelled to understand it. I was never asked how I serve my country, maybe we should all ask how we do that, I don't know, maybe it is not important but what I do know, is that to some, it is.

"No Turning Back"

 
Feeling my age a little today. Some kind of milestone it seems or at least feels. 45 years on this planet today and when I reflect on the changes I saw, well, I can only imagine where we'll end up.....I just hope we're not rushing to inhabit Mars because we are giving up on old Planet "Earth". I grew up in a small fishing community and I guess it was close to the edge or end of the world, maybe not that close, but sometimes we thought we could see it from there. There was no paved roads when I was a kid, no infrastructure in terms of water or sewage for that matter but I sure remember when they put all that in. I remember getting pavement for the first time on our street. I remember being the remote control for the black and white TV when we watched, because being the youngest you had to change the channel, we had two choices. I liked when the repair man game and I got to see behind the TV and was fascinated by the big tubes in the back that made it work.

Our phone number was 125 back then and yes you had to crank it to get the operator. It was one of those old phones with a mouth piece attached to a cord of wire that went to the base with the crank, that allowed you to reach the operator to connect your call. Well you can imagine my fascination when we went to one that actually had a handle and when we got the rotary phone even more amazement, touch tones were still distant for us. Now cellular! When I was watching Star Trek I always thought it would be neat to have one of those communicators, that's how I think of cell phones. So I've experienced a huge progression in communication. We even had Morris code units that my brother played with. I had no idea what that was all about at the time. I remember when computers were getting popular and encroachment on our analog world was slowly taking place. At university everyone was walking around with these punch cards and they didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of work. Computers as we know revolutionized our world and even blossomed communication further in many ways less personal and in others more. I now work with computers that image radioactive distribution once injected in a patient. Who'd a thought we'd be injecting radiation let alone imaging it with $800,000.00 cameras. This is a big step from the gramophone we use to play with in our attic. The song was "Impy Limp" by "Soderos Band" played on ceramic cylinders with the vinyl on the outside of the cylinder. You slid this on the gramophone and lowered the needle and cranked the thing. Cranking was big back then though I missed the cranking of the automobile. The case for the ceramic cylinder was made of a strong cardboard material and had a picture of Thomas Edison on it. Now the cameras at work I use are made by General Electric of which Thomas Edison was a precursor in a big way. Radios were super popular and ya know in some respects that is one thing that has remained fairly constant. Of course we can play them everywhere, on computers etc. even out kayaking!

Now there has been a whole whack of other changes over the years some you become part of voluntarily others you are just sucked right in to like The Maelstrom Vortex or something. I remember vaguely the landing on the moon on TV so much excitement. I remember hearing and being afraid of Al Capone and Tommy Guns the interesting thing about that is that I got to stay in a room close to the room Al Capone stayed in at the Drake hotel in Chicago for a week that was nice in retrospect, then again I was also in his cell on cell block "D" on Alcatraz. It just happened that way. I also stood on the site where they made the first atomic bomb under the stadium of Chicago University and now I work with medical radiation, in ways back then I am sure, they really never planned. Tomorrow I give a palliative dose of Strontium 89 to ten year old who has rabdomyosarcoma and metastasis everywhere a long ways from radiations intended use.

From moon landings, to in and out of space on shuttle craft, rovers on Mars, satelittes in distant recessses of space, to advances in the most deadly arsenal of weaponry known to mankind or any kind on this planet. From steam power, to diesel, gas, oil, hydrogen, electric maybe cold fusion in the future. If you had told people years ago before autos, that while moving in a 2 ton vehicle sitting on a very combustible 40 liters of fuel travelling at speeds of over 120 miles per hour on a road with many other combustibles beside you, passing you, in front of you and behind you, I wonder what they would have thought about the danger?

So why kayaking....you all know already! It is the simplicity, the silence, the human motor, the control, the mastery, the ability to go where many don't, the adventure, the escape, the yarning and ever so much with only a stick and a boat and most of all for me........it will be something I can do forever. Paddle on, paddle safe........but paddle! The caption is of me on Charlie Lake BC,

"Bloggin' Full"

 
I like to cook.I'm no chef but I am willing to put in the effort sometimes. I guess I've been a bachelor alot of my life so cooking for myself was inevitable. Tonight a surprise meal for my partner. She does most of the cooking and I sort of help on the fringes. Tonight all me and my own creations.

Got off work early to hit the grocery. Decided to be carniverous this evening. Steak prepared they way we like, medium rare seared in butter and blackened with a bit of cajun and greek spice. Turned out not bad.

Red baby Potatoes from Prince Edward Island that I baked in the oven first, then cut in halves and seared cut side down in cajun spice a bit of butter and tablespoon of olive oil. When crispy mixed thoroughly in the seasonings and then put in oven to finish cooking.

The veggy would be asparagus steamed crisp and topped with granny smith apple chunks and avacado sauteed in a small bit of butter. Once the apple is slightly brown and soft add a bit of Maple Syrup from Nova Scotia and carmelize until a bit of the sugar starts to burn off then serve over the asparagus, topped with seasoned pine nuts.

For an appetizer crab stuffed mushrooms. Bore out some fresh white mushrooms and ready for stuffing which would consist of local Newfoundland crab, red onion (finely chopped), dill herb, finely grated Monterey Jack cheese, and a dob of miracle whip and mixed to a creamy consistency then stuffed in the mushroom caps. Place a little butter in base of appetizer tray and grated parmean on the tops of the stuffed mushrooms and bake in the oven with the potaoes already in there cooking away. When parmesan starts to brown put oven on broil to really heat tops and melt parmesan cheese and brown...not too brown. Put it all together and voila, dinner and a movie me thinks....enjoy! And I have to scan people tomorrow for Ischemic heart disease from hardening of the arteries. The heck with that storm on it's way to hit us and to heck with winter. Chicken soup and salad all next week for sure. Heh! Heh!

"Kayak Tow"

Sometimes trying something out of the norm could be the road to invention......or stupidity, either way nothing ventured nothing gained.