Mars and Venus at the boatramp

The summer is my favorite time of the year and always has been. I'm usually cold and so the warm weather is a welcome change and the ability to wear shorts, sleeveless shirts and go barefoot, is in my view the way it seems life ought to be.

But lately it's been a little too hot even for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not holed up inside with the air conditioning cranked and in front of a fan, I'm just not out for as long at a time as usual. In fact, when I was watering the garden this morning and rivers of sweat were running down my legs I acquiesced to a break. When the haze even shows up in pictures, well, it's just plain steamy.


The weekend of "rest" has been just what I needed. Rest is probably a misnomer, as we were up before 7 on Saturday and out the door by 8 to the river with the John boat and canoe. We thought we'd get in a little float on the river for a couple of hours before the heat became unhealthy. So we drove 12 minutes and put in, motored up the river a bit and waded, played, fished, floated, counted fish, made up new versions of "Row, row, row your boat", paddled and learned to blow bubbles with Big League Chew.

We reached the boat ramp just when everyone had had enough, parked the boats at the side and the kids and I waited for Kevin with the trailer. Just then three canoes came up each bearing two teenagers who looked like they either had very little sleep or insufficient morning caffeine. They docked right in the middle of the concrete ramp, despite the large boats and trailers going in and out, with their mouths agape, staring lifelessly at a tree, the water or who knows what. Down the ramp backs Kevin, seeing the daydreamers and still not slowing down, putting the breaks on in uncomfortably close proximity to their canoes as if to say "WHY are you not moving?". Meanwhile I fumble over my words, practically apologizing about the need to remove our boats from the water. It's a bad habit I've got to break, feeling as if it's always me in the way.

Both afternoons found us at the pool, or rather IN the pool, the only place to be. Which has made for some wild


and some very tired


children.