River Day

It was a river sort of day, a combination of my birthday and

Father's Day both on Sunday during a week when I am on 

vacation and had nothing more than relaxing on my mind.

I am not a huge fan of the boat ride.  It is not like on a nice,

calm and deep lake, not here.  The river will suddenly drop to

a few inches of water where you can see each and every river

rock, including the gravel, as you are flying over them at a

really fast speed.  You can't use a prop, rather a jet is required

to get you up on plane and skip over rocks and hopefully the

semi-submerged logs from trees downed by storms or as 

the bank gave way.  Some of the root wads are huge, and

some you can't imagine how the tree is still standing, most of the

root hanging over the bank in a tangled mass.

You can see how they lean, farther and farther over.

Some are small like these, but others are massive and you hope

your boat isn't in their way if they fall.

On this stretch of river it is more quiet.

The canoes and kayaks haven't taken over the river, 

full of people that have not educated themselves on the

rules of the road as it were.  I think the canoe outfitters

should give them a course on river safety to keep them

and the power boaters happy and safe.  They need to be 

accountable to some degree, not just send people out 

who have no clue about boats.  That is when they tip 

and get themselves in dangerous places or do things

that are unsafe.  They also don't understand they need to 

share with the power boats that can't just stop like a car

so if they tie themselves together and take up the entire

river-especially around a blind bend, there's trouble.

It was only a couple of years ago a landowner got tired of 

the teams of people stopping on his land, leaving trash and partying.

(legally they have the right to be there if it is 

below the high water mark).  A confrontation occurred

and the owner killed him.   This was in the high canoe-kayak

area that has been inundated with drinkers, drugs, nudity, etc.

Not the family friendly canoe trip.

With a little respect that could have been avoided.

Our beaches are nice, some gravel and some sand.

Generally everyone gets along.

Hopefully it stays that way.

It's really pretty and relaxing (except for the ride).

There are eagles, sea looking birds, turtles, herons

and lots and lots of pretty shells to collect.

All this to see and yet I saw a boat go past where 

the driver was the only one looking at the water.

Everyone else in the boat had eyes on their phones 

where there was so much to see if they just looked 

around.  Sad really.  I think riots would break out if

we lost cell communications and all internet.

How would they survive?

This is one of the results of our recent floods.

The bank has all but gone and this house is doomed to 

fall into the river.  Some did and some are being 

renovated.  You can still see debris high in the tree tops

where bits of dock, houses and junk still dangles since

the water receded.  

If you can see the blue awning to the left on the beach, 

this is also a place where people camp.  Either day camping

or for the weekend.  If we plan to be there for the day we bring

the collapsible awnings, chairs, side tables, bbq, coolers, etc.

The kids float on rafts, watch the minnows try to nibble on their toes

and see who can get more dragon flies to land on their fingers.

I plop my chair about waist deep, just enough to keep my drink out of

the water, and attach a small umbrella to the back of my chair to 

avoid the sunburn.  We cook or bring a picnic lunch, arriving early

to stake out our claim. 

I hate the ride but love the beach!

Day 1 vacation Saturday:  Chicken butchering/pickling

Day 2 vacation:  Breakfast at Denny's and trip to the river 

Day 3 vacation:  laundry, thrift shopping, gardening

Day 4 vacation:  Quilt Shop Hop for the Row by Row patterns