Yesterday I went kayaking with friend, Garnet.  We dropped off my truck and took the kayaks to our put in station. We put in on the Sugar River around 7:30 in the am.  I was a little ambivalent about attacking the river for the first time in a kayak but Garnet reassured me (imagine that) that it would be a blast and I wouldn’t even want to kayak the lake any longer.

We set off and I oared around a bit until I realized the river’s current was going to carry me along.  I straightened out and ambled leisurely down the river.  It was so pretty.  The sun was not too bright and I even took off my sunglasses for a while.  Garnet and I took pictures of each other on our phones.  We are just so technologically up to date.  (She had learned that morning how to take photos and I am going to take a class in September to learn how to use mine more effectively.)

The trip was uneventful except for one sharp turn to the left and back to the right.  There was a tree hanging over the turn and you had to dodge it.  Garnet rowed herself right to the shore.  I just ducked.

Garnet said she didn’t want the trip to end so I told her that we should go have breakfast and come back and do it again.  We agreed that was what we would do.

We got to the place where we had parked my truck to ride back to her truck and I was first in line to get out.  The dock was not very big and Garnet suggested hitting it hard and fast.  I did such and got the nose of the kayak onto the pavement.  The worst part of kayaking is getting out of the darn thing after you have been in it for a while.

There was a guy fishing on the bank next to us and I thought how nice it would be of him to come give me a tow.  I stood up and got my right foot on the bank.  My left foot was in the kayak and suddenly the kayak moved and went back into the current of the river.  I was doing the splits and willing my body to work and get back to the dock.  I was yelling a very bad word over and over.  My body would not cooperate with my brain.  I fell to the right and into the river.  I was out of the kayak though and was quick enough to grab the tow bar before it got away from me.

What was Garnet doing all this time?  She told me she was watching my legs and that my muscles had popped out and she was in awe of my leg muscles.  I told her they were useless as they didn’t do the job I had asked them to do.

Garnet pulled up and I hopped down to tow her in further.  She had a tough time standing up to get out.  She has bad legs because she had polio as a child.  She finally got her legs in gear and made it to shore.  We pulled her kayak out next to mine.

Assessing myself, I realized that I had skinned my knee and I was pretty wet all over.  I was physically shaking but otherwise I was fine.  I got my beach towel that I had brought to sit on and dried myself off.  I was walking to my truck when it struck me that I had left the keys on the floor of Garnet’s truck so I wouldn’t lose them in the river if I tipped over.

Holy Mother of the Buddha!  I told Garnet my news and asked who we should call.  My first thought was our friends who live about five minutes from where we were located.  The Good Samaritan fisherman asked if we needed a ride.  Bless his heart and soul.  He took us to Garnet’s truck and we were so thankful and relieved.  We each confessed that we both had thought he was going to kidnap us and mutilate our poor old bodies.

We got back to the kayaks and thankfully they hadn’t been stolen.  The Good Samaritan was back fishing, bless his heart.

We were bungeeing up the kayaks and the second one was a toughie.  I stretched the bungee further to help Garnet along.  She let go of the thing and it bit me big time and major league on my bad finger.  My right pointer finger has arthritis from Hades and is probably my worst pain in my body except for my neck.  I had a deep cut from the corner of the fingernail to my first knuckle.

All I could think of was that it hurt so badly that it was numb.  Or maybe I was numb.  I remembered that Garnet had brought a frozen bottle of water and went to the river to retrieve it.  I washed my finger off in the river not thinking about all the germs, fish urination, and god knows what else in there.  The water had melted but it was fresh so I drank a big gulp before washing my finger with the water.

I know Garnet was a girl scout in a previous life because she has a first aid kit that she keeps in her kayak.  I had a clean cloth and a band aid, bless her heart.

We got in our trucks and off we went to eat breakfast at the Rowe’s A Frame in Durand.  I turned my air conditioner on high and held my finger to the register the whole time I traveled.

I was wet but I put my shorts on anyhow and looked presentable.  We had a lovely breakfast.  I had biscuits and gravy, of course, and Garnet had a breakfast burrito with chorizo sausage.  I am definitely trying that the next time I eat there.  Garnet joked when we got there and asked if I was ready to do the kayak trip again.  I told her I had enough of this bad luck streak I was rolling in and I was going home and going to bed, which I did.

I have to say that my one foot on shore and one foot in the kayak was the first time I have ever felt my age.  And it was not a good feeling.  I just hope I have gotten the bad luck streak broken and it is out of my system.  Perhaps I will burn some sage today.

Peace be with you.

Photo is of Anderson Gardens in Rockford and I am going on a tour there today.  Wouldn't it be great if Garnet and I snuck in and kayaked on their pond?  And yes, I tried to retrieve the photos on my phone and couldn't do it.  Can't wait until my i phone class.

I read my email and look at Facebook every morning while I eat breakfast and drink my ginger tea or coffee.  Ginger tea if I am having a relaxing day and coffee if I plan to accomplish everything on my “to do” list.

For the past while I have been noticing “suggested post” posts.  I resent the fact that they suggest my teeth need whitening, I have wrinkles and bags under my eyes, and that I need an energetic breakthrough kit.  My friend, Lorraine, welcomed me to algorithms. Friend, Lauri, said to forget it as you can’t get rid of them.  I have taken to hiding the post and hope that will take care of the problem.

We are living in that “Big Brother” world I read about years ago.  And you know the stupidest part of the thing is that we know we are living this.  And yet, we are too apathetic or lethargic to do anything about it.

I watched this movie a couple of years ago.  It was about a young lady who worked from home.  All of her friends worked at home also.  They would make plans to get together but it never happened.  All because they were glued to their computers and didn’t want to go out.  Their entire friendship was based on email and instant messages.  I vowed that this would never happen to me.

I do enjoy my hour or so on the computer in the morning but so far have not become so addicted that I carry my phone around just in case I get a new spam or suggested post and break away from the important thing I am doing at the time.  Lately it is weeding the garden, harvesting produce and canning stuff from the garden that takes most of my time.

However, I do have to admit that I have a computer addiction.  Friend, Lauri, gave me a software package a while back to do jigsaw puzzles.  When I take my breaks from chores I like to do a puzzle.  I used to enjoy a game or two on my computer but since Windows forced me to upgrade to Windows 10, I cannot play my favorite games.  (Windows changed the little “X” in the upper right hand corner to “accept” instead of “close”.)  So be careful.

This I believe is a blessing in disguise.  Windows in their blatant butt f..k of me, actually did me a big favor.  I am spending less time on the computer and more time in my garden, kitchen and walking my dog.

Peace be with you.

Photo is of Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, Il.  One of the only positive aspects of that city.  I am going on a tour on the 29th of this month.  Only $18.00 if anyone would like to go with me.

This morning I had a very strange thing happen to me.  I was sitting on the John reading my book and attending to business.  In the book this guy was thinking about killing this girl in the book.  I had a thought of sudden death and how sad it was.  I thought to myself, I just don’t want to die like Elvis, sitting on the toilet.  I was suddenly overtaken with this stupid thought, and then I thought what if I didn’t finish the book.  I had an urge to go to the end of the book and read the last chapter.  I swear this has never happened to me before and I have never read the end of the book before I finished the book.

Getting distracted from the darn book, I got my thoughts together and knew I was being ridiculous.  I wasn’t going to die on the toilet and I was going to finish this darn book that I keep trying to guess what will happen next and it doesn’t.  I’ve already written my end to the story but I will be surprised at whatever the outcome may be.

I had plans to go to the beach with Garnet today but she called and said her legs hurt and she couldn’t get out of bed today.  I am going to the beach by myself and I am going to finish this book.  I am going to eat the lovely fruit salad that I made just for the beach today and float in the water and cool off and get some vitamin D.

So there!

Peace be with you.

This weekend’s retirement adventure has to do with vegetables.  My garden is just overflowing with wonderful fresh veggies.  We have had stuffed green peppers twice so far and we are having them again tonight.  The first I stuffed with rice, Italian sausage and cheeses, the second I made with smoked sausage and dirty rice.  Tonight’s peppers are going to be stuffed with chorizo and dirty rice.  This is a new recipe for me and I am not sure how it will go over.

Yesterday the weather was a little cooler and I canned tomatoes that I had been saving all week.  I try to avoid canning when it is 90 degrees outside.  I don’t want the humidity in the house.

I estimated that I would get about five quarts of tomatoes but I got six quarts.  I use them all winter for chili, soup and Chicken Cacciatori.  For my next batch of tomatoes I will make marinara sauce.

My cucumbers gave me a surprise this year.  One of the seeds I planted is producing white cucumbers.  Not white, white, but really light green white.  I have been told that there are white cucumbers out there but have never tried to grow them.  I have had this same packet of seeds for years.  (Don’t believe seed companies that try to sell you a new packet every year.  A lot of seeds last much longer.)  I am going to save some seeds from my white cucumbers and try and see if they do the same thing next year.

Emily dot spotty spot has a new love.  I found Jessie dog’s dog puppet that she used to play with and Emmie carries it around with her.  I have already had to sew him up once.

Emmie is coming along.  She met her first doggie friend the other day and I hope to introduce her to more dogs and see if she will calm down when we see other dogs on our walks.

Emmie still hasn’t taken to the hubster but she has let him pet her when lying in bed.  He is just dying to love on her.  She is soft as a rabbit and sweet as honey.  She is under the computer table as I type.  It is one of her favorite places.

Peace be with you.

This is a big shout out to Garrison Keilor who stole my idea of retirement adventures.  I listened in the other day when he was interviewed about his retirement and he said he was looking forward to retirement adventures.  Great minds think alike?

My latest adventures are not some I would have liked to have had.  First I had a cold for over a week.  The sinus problems have stayed with me and it is now in my fourth week.  I have gone through two boxes of tissues and two boxes of Musinex.  I am now thinking I am allergic to my new dog.  I certainly hope that is not the case.

Why doesn’t someone invent a device that you can attach to your nose or the back of your throat and suck that shit out?  In this day and age we should not have to suffer from honkers.  I hate it when people do that huffing thing and suck the snot out of their sinuses and then spit it or, worse yet, swallow that stuff.  I have to leave the room when I get a good one out because I think it is disgusting.  Snot is disgusting!

My other retirement adventure was the death of a neighbor and a friend.  Sudden deaths are sometimes just the worst.  The shock for the family has to be so intense.  I’ve always said I hope I go in my sleep.

I did go to the funeral and it was a Catholic mass which lasted an hour and a half.  The best part of the service was when the priest asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and wish “peace be with you.”  I loved that.  Strangers in front of me and behind me wished me peace.  I have to adopt that.  I wished the deceased “Peace be with you” as his casket passed by me.

This morning on my walk I wished peace to be with every house that I knew the occupant.  Dear reader, Peace be with you.

Photo is of the volunteer squash plant that came up in my compost.  It is a pie pumpkin plant and I am going to have plenty if anyone is interested in a pie pumpkin.  If you have never used fresh pumpkin you will be surprised at how much flavor it has.