Friday, August 07, 2020

August Sweeps - Day 189

So, it was Friday today, and I feel like I didn't accomplish a whole lot.  But that's an oversimplification.  I certainly haven't achieved any writing yet, but I got some stuff done, and had a couple of good conversations.  

I also decided, at practically the last minute, to jump in the truck and drive on over to the lake to see if I couldn't get in some rafting before the sun went down for a change.*  So, I scrambled to inflate the canoe, get it loaded into the truck, and find my brother-in-law's pass before the sun set.  I almost made it.  My nephew decided to come with me, but only if he was allowed to fish.  I didn't care one way or another, I just wanted to see the water, and exercise my arms by futilely rowing before it was too dark to do it.


I got to the lake an hour before they close the gates, and parked us in the exact same spot we were on Sunday night, and ran around to the bed of the truck to pull out the canoe . . . and I seemed to have not put the plug in the bottom part right, because all the air had gone out (I know I hadn't put it in right because it was just sitting open, while the other inflatable parts were still closed).  Well, I grabbed the darn thing, put my mouth on the nozzle, and tried to inflate it with my lungs.  That pointlessness lasted about a minute, with me inhaling with my nose and exhaling with my mouth, before I sucked one of those flying bugs right into my left nostril.  Where it stopped, nobody knows, like the carnival barkers say.  Giving up on that bit, I dragged the canoe to the water's edge anyway, determined to still have my fun.

Well, it sort of worked.  I was sitting so low in the canoe that I was practically lying down, and that made it hard for me to row, though it was a bit like doing a sit-up every time, and that's good at least.

The swarms of bugs were not out like they had been on Sunday.  Oh, there were still hundreds or thousands of midges flying around, especially visible in the headlights of the truck, but not uncountable millions like there were a few days ago.  

After a while, my nephew wanted to join me in the canoe, if only so he could fish farther out on the lake.  It was slightly easier to row with him in the front of the half-deflated canoe, but it was still not optimal.  What I guess I should do--if I'm serious about canoeing--is to buy my own air compressor, one that plugs into the cigarette lighter of a car or truck.  Do they still call them cigarette lighters?  Didn't think so.

Sit-ups Today: 150
Sit-ups In August: 1255

Big sent me his word count-in-progress today for the first time in weeks, and I kept having to recognize that mine was zero.  But hey, sometimes he's on top and sometimes I'm . . . well, sometimes I do weller than others.

Sorry, I'm just too tired to keep on typing.  I have to be up in five and a half hours (wow, less than now), so I feel I've done enough.  Hey, you've done enough today too.

Words Today: 568
Words In August: 6299

*Oh, I didn't end up blogging about this at all on Sunday, but just spent a few minutes updating that post with text and pictures from going to the lake that evening.  Check it out HERE.

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