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Not many words in this blog but, now and then, a few of my photographs--
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About Me
- P. J. Grath
- Blogger, bookseller, philosopher, amateur photographer, lifetime writer. Negligent but passionate gardener. Good cook when inspired. No kind of housekeeper at all. Very big reader!
Love canoes! Mine has gathered dust in the garage since moving west, so
ReplyDeleteit is a a memorial to the 'good old days'. Dark green with Indian deco
along the border; brand new adventure to a newly married couple in 1965. Stained with the waters of the Chippewa, Crow Wing, Flambeau,
Namekagon, St. Croix and numerous other northwoods streams. If that old friend could talk, it would remind of early morning campfires in the mist (or drizzling rain sometimes), the practiced disassembly and transfer of camp
stowed beneath its gunwales, the peaceful drift through floating
hardwood leaves in Fall (a couple blizzards too!) the rush of excitement upon entering a rapids
and the contentment of finally at
days end being drawn up on the banks
of a convenient island to repeat the
process. I see that dust covered adventure craft and recall the bald eagle that swooped down to check out the forest interlopers, the surprized doe and fawns wading up ahead and the whippoorwills and frogs beginning their nightly serenade. A picture is worth a thousand words... Did I mention I love canoes?
Last year the only time our canoe got wet was when it rained. We hope to do better this year. If we don't, like you, BB, we have memories, most of ours in Michigan. I'll have book review on Books in Northport in a few days that you won't want to miss. You won't want to miss the book, either. Stay tuned....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid my dad made a fiberglass canoe in the basement. Stunk up the whole house while he was doing it. We used that canoe..painted red...for years...he finally bought an aluminum canoe a couple of years before he died. I missed the red fiberglass one.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dawn, for sharing those memories of your father. You and BB make me realize how many memories of canoes Americans must have. It is, after all, a very American craft. Red is a happy color, too, don't you think? I must admit, though, that the boat David and I used the most (years ago) was not a canoe but an old, beat-up, painted styrofoam THING that had started life as a little sailboat. With us, it became the easiest, handiest (albeit ugliest) boat to throw into the back of a van and toss into the river with a picnic lunch. I do hope we get the red canoe into the Crystal River or Veronica Creek this summer.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Dawn's dad and the basement fiberglass canoe. My dad and a neighbor bought a 17 foot
ReplyDeleteHayward canoe from the turn of the century at a yard sale. It was a cedar/ash/canvas affair which was
incapable of even floating. They
bought, steamed and shaped cedar and ash, saturated the canvas with fiberglass and ended up with a thing which would carry a moose and weighed so much it took two to portage. Yes, our home smelled like
chemicals which burned the nose for
a couple years after. We kids helped and learned that if you are persistant and stubborn and keep at it, even the most doubtful project
can be successful. :) ..there was
another guy in town that built a
big sailboat in the basement..which
he couldn't get out. ..so planning
IS critical.
A fascinating feature of the blogosphere is that one never knows when a post will attract comment and trigger a conversation. Love these stories! Have to say that our "ugliest" boat (the non-canoe) was a flea market find--maybe three dollars, maybe five, and at that I thought David had overpaid. "It's the ugliest boat I've ever seen in my life!" I told him. Then we had more fun in and with it than with any other boat before or since.
ReplyDeleteMemories are wonderful.
Yes, loved that canoe, the sun would shine through it and you could see the water line from inside. It was fragile though and we were careful where we took it. On the other hand we too had a styrofoam sailboat which lasted for years and years and got all banged up, but it was something we could all goof off in. Good memories.
ReplyDeleteOne wordless image has evoked all these memories. Dawn, our red canoe is probably not as fragile as the one you remember, but I still want to be careful with it and not bang it up like the ugly boat. It's too pretty. And now, turn to "Books in Northport" for my review of Bonnie Jo Campbell's new novel, ONCE UPON A RIVER:
ReplyDeletehttp://booksinnorthport.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-once-upon-river.html
Never Owned a Canoe. My Memories are of Speed Boats and Water Skiing. I Think I would have Loved the Slower Pace of Canoes and Sail Boats, though. I Love the Contrast in your Picture.
ReplyDeleteI was up on water skis once and managed to get around a small lake without falling. Never tempted fate by trying to repeat that success, and now I'm all for life in the slow lane.
ReplyDelete