Lazy River

Okay, ready to be jealous? Here's how I spent yesterday... On the Mississippi, exploring little channels between islands.

Up where I live it isn't gross yet, hasn't gone through any major metropolitan areas, and not that many other rivers have fed into it yet. It's kind of brown from sediment, but pretty clear. We found a nice little spot to pull over for a picnic.

Mostly shady with patches of sun breaking through the tunnel of maples that formed a canopy overhead, perfect.

The water here was only about knee deep so we waded around checking stuff out. The water was warm.

I found all these cool shells, plus an old drowned boom box that looked like it had been there a season or two that was pretty gross. The shells are pretty though huh? I don't know what makes the colors in them, but this is after I scrubbed them clean. Yay free treasure!

Over the years Dan has brought me cool shells he found on trips with "the guys" up north, and driftwood. He knows what I'm into-- not roses! All in all this day produced this face. (Yes, this pic has been cropped to protect your eyes and my dignity.) (But it was a fun day. Good vibes.)

After the river excursion we rode the mountain bike trail and seemed to hit our stride as far as riding together goes. Dan agreed he'd not be pleased if I rode recklessly and crashed left and right so agreed to not take crazy risks. He let me lead through the first two sections where I'm pretty fast now, and I let him take point on the final two, knowing I'd hold him back. He waited up for me every once in a while, and surprisingly wasn't all that far ahead of me most of the time anyway. It was fun for both of us this time-- whew! Good date/play day. Success!

Where it's at for me right now is that it's summer and I'm trying to enjoy this fleeting season as much as I can. Where I live the memories of summer sustain us in Jan and Feb when it's bleak, dimly lit and bitterly cold, so you're a fool if you don't capitalize on June, July, and Aug.

Art-wise-- I'm working like crazy, but kind of blew the season as far as having lots of stuff ready. I totally fried myself back in April and had a real hard time firing up again. This is a luxury people that work for the man don't have I know, but I don't work for the man so that's where it is. All I can do is work hard now to make sure fall is a success.

Writing-wise, I'm into revising my first novel- completely rewriting it actually, and it's way better. I need to carve out more time for it though. Before I had heat/electricity out in the shop I had nothing but time and could write for hours and hours at a time. Now I'm either welding, riding, or paddling it seems. Our "no computers at night" rule (new from the togetherness push) might have to be modified to exclude writing. Dan says he'd be cool with that.

Today is a Grandma day. My folks are out of town so I'll be taking her to run errands and to lunch. Her age (94) makes me hyper-aware of mortality in general. She knows her time is short. When we go grocery shopping I think about how weird that would be, wondering if you should buy the big jar of peanut butter or whatever, or if it would be a waste. I'm glad we get to spend some time together and talk about stuff. It feels like an experience I'm meant to have so I'm trying to absorb, learn, and be there for her.

That's it for today. Sorry this is such a yawn-fest. It is what it is sometimes. :)