clear waters

it was so refreshing to once again be able to see the bottom of a lake while paddling. getting to the bottom of things can be difficult in cloudy conditions.

dry dock

last weekend's anniversary trip to door county, wisconsin afforded a morning trip around horseshoe island beyond ephraim bay. after the fog burned off the sun was a welcome visitor. i made sure that i wouldn't lose my way the next time there by constructing a "goldsworthy" cairn that hopefully will stand at least the summer traffic.


to hold, as twere, the mirror up to nature.

--william shakespeare, hamlet

hard is the heart that loved naught in may.

-- geoffrey chaucer, 'the romance of the rose'

emeralds lost

without a comprehensive program in ireland next week we'll have to find verdant green in some other remote part of this world. waiting on a trip to switzerland in november will have to suffice. alas, too, yesterday with three hours on the lake in brilliant sunlight i forgot my camera. no more 3 x 5's this week.

a broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man's life as a book.

--henry david thoreau

35 years

it doesn't seem like 35 years i've been working in this town, but the spider mum and recognition from the hospital made it official. i feel like the last dinosaur waiting for the next meteorite to strike.. the years teach much which the days never know. -- ralph waldo emerson, "experience"

hooked

joyous we too launch out on trackless seas. -- walt whitman, "passage to india"

our passion for the water seems to be expanding with the addition of new converts. here rich has recruited another disciple who is ready for his own boat; another addition to the red rock armada.

bin laden caves

doc always told me that bin laden's cave was on the elk rock shoreline but i'm almost sure this one at eagle rock was a possibility too. my trip from hwy 14 to elk rock ranger's station on a beautiful sunday evening ended with a beautiful sunset and nw winds/waves. we should never exult in the taking of life, but we have to admit that he won't be missed much. also, why is it that the republican station (fox) called him Usama and the democratic one (msnbc) called him Osama? (using "beautiful" twice qualifies me as an AI judge!)

kites rise against the wind - not with it. -- winston churchill