Out on the river

[rsc]

One of the things that makes our summer in Gloucester official is taking the canoe out of the basement and installing it at the bottom of the right-of-way that leads to the Annisquam River. We decided, more or less on the spur of the moment, that today was the day to do that (we don't want to leave it too late, in case somebody suddenly decides to claim the tree to which we chain it). Often this has to be preceded by some serious mowing and trimming of the right-of-way, but it turned out somebody else had already done this, so all we needed to do was a bit of trimming down at the end so we wouldn't get tangled up in catbriar.

Since we were there, and it was a nice cool day (supposed to get really hot tomorrow), and we're going to be busy or out of town a fair amount over the next couple of weeks, we decided to take it out for a spin. Further incentive was provided by the fact that it was just about high tide, which meant that (1) we had a relatively short distance to carry the canoe between the tie-up place and the water, and (2) it was a perfect time to paddle around the island. So we did, and, since it's a weekday and early in the season, there were almost no other boats on the river. making for a very pleasant trip.

One thing that had surprised us when we were preparing for this annual ritual was that although the chain and the key were on their usual hook in the basement, the padlock was missing. We couldn't account for this, but decided that we must have lost it somehow on the way up last fall without noticing, and that it was probably actually safe to leave the canoe unsecured for a day or two until we bought a new lock. When we returned from our little jaunt, jwg decided to check in the grass immediately below the horizontal stretch of tree-trunk where we chain the canoe, and there was the padlock, none the worse for having lain there all winter.

When we got back to the house, the anadama bread I had put in the bread machine earlier was just done.

Comments

[jwg.livejournal.com]

I'd been thinking while we were canoeing that summer was here. But then I paid attention to the weather!

I had to come into Cambridge this evening for an early morning meeting with the Cambridge City Manager and a City Councillor about the establishment of Cambridge GLBT commission (I'm on a committee working on this). Driving in from Gloucester in rush hour and getting up early are completely incompatible with me.

I closed the windows I had left open and I turned on the heat; now it is nice and toasty!

[rsc.livejournal.com]

You turned on the heat? Wimp.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

All this talk of canoes is making me homesick for Lake Fletcher. Well, I only have to wait another two weeks.

[ranger1.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember that right of way from my visit four years ago. A lovely place indeed.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a wonderful day, and Gloucester sounds beautiful.