all by myself ... temporarily
I got happy when I realized that I wouldn't be going bowling with the malemate this afternoon.
I got happy when I realized I would have the house to myself for a few hours to do whatever I wanted.
I got happy when I realized I could turn the tv off and just listen to silence.
Ahhh yes - silence.
And now, here I sit at this machine.
The OK cousins arrived on Saturday and it was pretty much a drunken, sleepless weekend. We had some other people come over on Saturday night and we played cards. It was a whopping $5 buy in. Yeh, heavy gamblers are we.
Sunday we did some road tripping and then around 9pm we went bowling til midnight.
Monday we did a float on the Elk. The weatherbug showed that it would be mostly sunny with a chance of rain. Well, fuck the weatherbug. It rained almost the entire time we were on the river.
The float was not so relaxing this time.
First, we had heavy rains almost every day the week before so, the river was very high ... and running very fast.
We are used to it being shallow, where the bottom is visible the entire float. I knew we would probably going to have some problems with as fast as it was running.
The malemate would make sure of it.
We get the canoes in the water and about 5 minutes into the float I see a huge uprooted tree in the middle of the river. The left side of it looks a little calmer than the right side. The OK cousins take the left -- cuz they are older, you know ... and wiser.
The malemate gets this 'gotta be in the lead' and aggressive attitude.
Off to the rougher right he steers us ... right into a large root that is about head height.
I grab the root to try to push us off and away from it.
The malemate leans to the right and I can feel the canoe is going to tip.
Sure enough. The canoe tips and dumps us out into the water and then flips completely over.
Life jackets? Nah, we don't need those bulky , ugly, dirty things.
The water is moving so fast and I know I have to grab the canoe, because I have no idea when we'll see it again if I don't.
I finally get a hold of it, then the malemate also gets a hold of it and we struggle our way to a little tiny area of shore.
We didn't have anything strapped down inside. At that point, I'm assuming that all is lost with no chance of retrieving because of the fast current.
We finally reach the tiny beach and attempt to get the canoe flipped over ... full of water
and
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that all 3 bags/coolers, 2 aluminum chairs and the oars were all still there.
We finally got it unloaded so we could dump out, what seemed like tons of water, and then reloaded and off we went to finish out the wet, rainy trip.
I'm glad that was the last Monday of the season to do a float. I don't think I have it in me to do it again this year.
On a lighter note -- when was the last time you saw a walking stick bug out in the open?
I had one visit me yesterday. It stayed above the front door all day long. Then, when I went to check it after the sun went down, it had moved on. It measured about 6" long from tip to tip and it looks like it was missing one of its legs. Curious looking critters aren't they?
I got happy when I realized I would have the house to myself for a few hours to do whatever I wanted.
I got happy when I realized I could turn the tv off and just listen to silence.
Ahhh yes - silence.
And now, here I sit at this machine.
The OK cousins arrived on Saturday and it was pretty much a drunken, sleepless weekend. We had some other people come over on Saturday night and we played cards. It was a whopping $5 buy in. Yeh, heavy gamblers are we.
Sunday we did some road tripping and then around 9pm we went bowling til midnight.
Monday we did a float on the Elk. The weatherbug showed that it would be mostly sunny with a chance of rain. Well, fuck the weatherbug. It rained almost the entire time we were on the river.
The float was not so relaxing this time.
First, we had heavy rains almost every day the week before so, the river was very high ... and running very fast.
We are used to it being shallow, where the bottom is visible the entire float. I knew we would probably going to have some problems with as fast as it was running.
The malemate would make sure of it.
We get the canoes in the water and about 5 minutes into the float I see a huge uprooted tree in the middle of the river. The left side of it looks a little calmer than the right side. The OK cousins take the left -- cuz they are older, you know ... and wiser.
The malemate gets this 'gotta be in the lead' and aggressive attitude.
Off to the rougher right he steers us ... right into a large root that is about head height.
I grab the root to try to push us off and away from it.
The malemate leans to the right and I can feel the canoe is going to tip.
Sure enough. The canoe tips and dumps us out into the water and then flips completely over.
Life jackets? Nah, we don't need those bulky , ugly, dirty things.
The water is moving so fast and I know I have to grab the canoe, because I have no idea when we'll see it again if I don't.
I finally get a hold of it, then the malemate also gets a hold of it and we struggle our way to a little tiny area of shore.
We didn't have anything strapped down inside. At that point, I'm assuming that all is lost with no chance of retrieving because of the fast current.
We finally reach the tiny beach and attempt to get the canoe flipped over ... full of water
and
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that all 3 bags/coolers, 2 aluminum chairs and the oars were all still there.
We finally got it unloaded so we could dump out, what seemed like tons of water, and then reloaded and off we went to finish out the wet, rainy trip.
I'm glad that was the last Monday of the season to do a float. I don't think I have it in me to do it again this year.
On a lighter note -- when was the last time you saw a walking stick bug out in the open?
I had one visit me yesterday. It stayed above the front door all day long. Then, when I went to check it after the sun went down, it had moved on. It measured about 6" long from tip to tip and it looks like it was missing one of its legs. Curious looking critters aren't they?
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3 comments:
I am sorry about the flipped canoe but amazed that all your stuff stayed in through the flip and I am glad you both were safe without injuries.
I've never seen a bug like that before. What a cool creature you had to come visit you. :)
I hope you enjoyed a nice scotchie and kicked back and relaxed during your alone time. You deserve it.
-Michelle
-Michelle
I have secretly been keeping up with you Bren, just so you know!
I've become horrible at blogging (gave mine up even) and even worse at answering emails.
I've got great job for you to apply for when you are ready to seek a new one - large company with tons of MT employees online. I'm pondering applying myself - but its a job where you work specific hours daily (like days, pm's or nights) which I don't know if i personally want. But, it also has sick leave, vacation, and holiday pay along with benefits. Email me when you're ready for a change! Not sure about pay, but the average across the country seems to be .08 - .10. I'm sharing with you ...because I want you to get a job with them then tell me if I will like it or not..lol.
Oh ,I'm glad your okay. That happened to my sister and she almost drowned trying to rescue the canoe.
I have been unable to comment every time I have been here. :(
be good! muah
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