Month ago, we purchased kayaks on Facebook marketplace shortly after closing on the cottage. Then we got them here and I was forced to admit I didn’t know how I was going to get the kayak into the water. We are on a hill and the dock is fairly high in the water. The river is impacted by tides as it connects to the Chesapeake Bay.
We purchased a floating dock with a kayak launch and due to a cancellation, they installed it on Friday - ahead of schedule.
I love the floating dock but Andrea and Georgie seem less sure about it. When two people (and a dog) are walking on it, you really do need to get your “sea” legs.
The contractor re-stored the kayaks face up under our deck after he’d done some work which meant they were heavy - filled with gallons of collected rain water.
I woke up at 630 Sunday morning & was unable to fall back to sleep. I thought I would head under the deck to bail water out of our kayaks. This was easier said than done. Andrea and I went to the hardware store and bought a bilge pump to remove enough water so that her mom, Andrea and I could tip the kayaks & get the rest of the water out.
Andrea helped me pull the kayak to the launch. We spotted a long, thin, green snake on one of the dock steps. Much smaller than the large, long, thick black snake we spotted on the road Saturday. The kayak launch is designed so that you can use your paddles to either pull you into the water or onto the launch. It was then that I realized that my paddles were too short. I made it work and set sail. The current is weird - I haven’t figured it out yet. The river is a tributary for the Rappahanock river and the it connects to the Chesapeake as well.
Andrea and Gretchen bought a longer paddle at Wal-mart on Saturday - and a whistle so I can toot for help if need be. There are numerous docks lining the river so I feel I could hopefully paddle to one of those in a pinch.
This evening, we took Gretchen to the Boz Scaggs concert in Richmond. You may think that you don’t know him but I guarantee you have heard his music. Before the show began, the woman seated next to me asked, “So when did you get introduced to Boz?”
I replied, “My mother-in-law introduced me to Boz.” The truth is that my wife introduced me (& her mom introduced her) by declaring that Boz sounds a lot like Kermit the Frog. This is true - but not in all of his songs.
“I got introduced to Boz in 1976 - when I was in college.” The woman exclaimed.
Immediately, I was seized by a thought of me, 20 years in the future, at a Cranberries concert asking a younger person when they were introduced to the Cranberries and me saying, “I got acquainted with them in 1994 when I was stationed in South Korea!”
I’m just kidding - I mean, I wouldn’t go to a Cranberries show but I did listen to the shit out of their CD Everyone Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We Can’t We? While stationed in Korea - mainly because I brought the CD over and had one station that played English music which was the Armed Forces Korea Network (AFKN). The Cranberries were my college equivalent. And, at that time, everyone else was doing it, and by it I meant college. So why can’t we? (Meaning me) Well - because I was enlisted. I do recall lamenting to my mom that everyone else was doing it. College. I was sure of it. Turns out, the Bertinator was right, not everyone was doing it.
Andrea has just pointed out that I couldn't go to a Cranberries show because the lead singer died in 2018. We have a "game" we play - a song will come onto the radio and Andrea will say, "Dead or Alive?" We began this because every single holiday season, the song Last Christmas by George Michael will come on and I will ask, "Now wait - did he die?" And Andrea will shriek at me, "YES! You ask this every year." Well - I forget. Annually. Guess his last Christmas was on December 25, 2016. I just looked this up and then asked Andrea, "Did you know that George Michael died ON CHRISTMAS?!"
"YES! I tell you this every year!"
"You do? That he died on Christmas?!"
"YES!"
Well. Do you guys know who isn't dead?! Boz Scaggs. He's 78 & reportedly worth 40 million. His bedtime is later than mine and I am 30 years younger than he is. I suspect he gets to sleep later but I cannot be certain. But I do have to go to bed now.
If you, if you could return
Don't let it burn
Don't let it fade
I'm sure I'm not being rude
But it's just your attitude
It's tearing me apart
It's ruining every day
Linger, The Cranberries
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