KAYAK SEASON

This only looks like a still from a Fellini movie...

A friend of mine lives near a lake and I try to get out there at least once or twice a year in the summertime to go kayaking. I always forget how much fun it is to kayak until I get past the initial fear of dropping into the kayak at the dock - what is it about that wobbly feeling of being held up on water that irks me so? Anyway, once in I grab my oar and off I go - doing my best to keep up with my experienced kayaker of a friend. Heading out of the small harbor in calm waters is a breeze until a speed boat or jet ski approaches... then I feel like I am faced with a "perfect storm" and I begin to get nervous. Waves! Tsunami! My friend tells me to stop rowing and ride out the waves like a mini roller-coaster. Right, it all comes back to me now.

We brought a packed lunch and paddled out to a small island where we drift in the lagoon and commune with the ducks who surround our boats in hopes of scoring a piece of bread or crackers. I was going to throw a piece of chicken to them - but my friend reminded me of the politically incorrect, not to mention cannibalistic, implications of doing that. Oh, right.

The sun shines bright so I do my best to keep under shade - which also means warding off blue spiders (ones that can skim across the surface of water in Christ-like fashion) and ants and whatever falls off the tree branches hanging overhead. Still, it is relaxing to just float in the shade and the 100 degree temps of Los Angeles seem far far away.

When we return to shore we reward ourselves with a dulce de leche snow cone.
Aw... summer.