Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Over the past fourteen years kayaking has become my most favorite outdoor activity. Along with actually paddling kayaks comes the fun part of collecting kayaks. I’ve managed to collect a few nice boats over these past years including inflatable kayaks.
One of the most common remarks I see/hear when people ask about the pros and cons of inflatable kayaks is: “If you punch a hole in an inflatable, you’ll get wet.” I can now attest that this is not true.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Of the many musicians and types of music I enjoy, there is one musician I haven’t written about on this humble blog. That would be American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Melissa Etheridge. So, for this chilly pre-spring equinox Wednesday I’m going to correct that deficiency. I’m also going to make a tribute to a woman who once helped me through the absolute lowest point of my life.
Bonus music video for those brave visitors who read all the way through this post.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
I’ve been catching back up on my daily grind this past week after returning from a vacation. For our latest adventure, Winnie and I did something entirely new – for us. After months of planning and anticipation, Winnie and I took our first vacation cruise a couple of weeks ago.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
While perusing my favorite social media – Quora – I stumbled upon a question that triggered an immediate flashback. The question was “Have you ever had a neighbor who believed they had free reign of your property?” The question brought back painful memories of a nasty feud with my first neighbors while living in Southern Mississippi.
That feud lasted five years. By the time it was over I had charged the neighbors with misdemeanor trespassing and made several calls to our local police. It was the ugliest neighbor conflict I’d ever had, up until then. But it turned out to be only a prequel to an even worse feud.
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Winnie and I are back from vacation and back to work this week. We had a short but relaxing vacation spent camping, and kayaking, and attending reunion dinners all last week. The big event was my second Navy reunion with former shipmates of the first submarine I served on, USS Scamp (SSN 588). We also springboarded off this event for some enjoyable extracurricular side adventures.
We ended up with a week of camping and kayaking and reunion dinners with friends and family.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
So tomorrow Winnie and I are headed out on another week-long adventure. This will be a combination camping/kayaking trip, Navy reunion, and family visit all strung together.
Estimated reading time: 22 minutes
Boats have a reputation for being expensive. However, this is not completely true. Boats are very inexpensive to maintain and operate, as long as you don’t put them into the water. Once a boat gets wet, all bets are off and “boat” does in fact become the acronym “Bust Out Another Thousand.”
A few years ago, I made a horrifying discovery that water was seeping inside the wood-cored transom of our family boat “Sea Dragon.” Water and wood do not mix, and this issue required some serious remediation work. So, I’ve spent the past several years drying and waterproofing “Sea Dragon.”
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on my career these past months. Most of this reflection is on the many different people I’ve dealt with over my professional life. And how I’ve learned something from every person I’ve worked with.
Some of the lessons I learned were positive experiences, and I count those people as mentors and role models. Other lessons- not so much. One constantly recurring lesson I remember is how so many people I’ve worked with put effort into making other people look bad.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Winnie is an excellent gardener. Over the years we’ve lived in Northern Virginia, her annual vegetable gardens have become larger and more ambitious. By “ambitious,” I mean she’s been more adventurous with the variety of vegetables she’s tried growing. Sometimes, her experiments don’t do so well. Most of the time they do. So I have frequent opportunities to learn, and taste, another new veggie.
One vegetable Winnie hasn’t tried growing is bamboo shoots. But, no matter, because she’s learned where she can get bamboo shoots in the wild. So hunting wild bamboo has become another annual adventure in fine dining.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Spring has sprung, and the world is waking up after a long winter’s nap. Leaves are budding on bare tree branches. Brown remnants of last year’s grass is turning green. Bird are happily chirping while temps are climbing back into the no-jackets-needed range.
Meanwhile, I’m here in a doldrum of Springtime lethargy. Seemingly moving with the exuberance of a lowly snail. When the rest of the world is coming alive, why do my feet feel like they’re embedded in concrete-filled buckets?