Not sure about you, but I am pretty much done with winter.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a whole bunch about winter that I actually like. Top of the lis,t of course, is Christmas. I love it!
Clearly, the number two cool thing about winter is snow.
I love snow and all the neat things snow does to the landscape (like my rusty old clunker car, my neighbour’s compost pile, and my disaster of a driveway.)
Likewise, I am addicted to hot chocolate, (especially with a splash), cozy slippers, and homemade stews.
I find fireplaces spell binding, and certainly live and die for hockey. However, as far as the wet, damp, and freezing cold?
Enough is enough!
I admit to being far more tolerant of winter way back when I actually had knees—and could fully enjoy a ski hill.
A ridiculously fine and frivolous winter afternoon up at ole ‘Last’ Mountain—and a silly hell-bent-for-leather race to the bottom of the bunny hill with a couple of good friends—ended my skiing days excessively too soon. It also pretty much ended my left knee.
Once I had blown out my knee, the winter wonder sort of waned.
Now, once Christmas is over and the snow disappears and no longer hides either my mess or the neighbours, – I am bored with winter.
However, I digress.
I am pretty much done with winter.
Bring on the summer.
As a lifetime committed gardener I know I should be enthusiastic about spring, pumped up about getting my hands in the soil, planting seeds and plants, and creating my garden.
However, this year my mind is already stuck somewhere in late May or June.
That is when the canoe will come out.
There is a second hand 14-foot vessel in my backyard that is calling me. In fact, it has been screaming at me quite loudly all winter.
Two years ago, my dear friend Curtis lured me back out on a mountain lake and into a canoe, where I remembered suddenly how much I loved being out on the water. It truly was a liberating weekend.
Teresa thankfully understood my passion and, like the angel she is, went quietly about searching the Internet for a used canoe that we could afford. Her persistence paid off and last spring we snagged one.
I was delinquent in getting the small vessel out on the lake early enough last summer; however, I did manage to squeeze just enough time in my craft to rejuvenate my passion. Now I am ready to rock and row.
At Christmas, Tez decided to continue and stoke my canoe fires by buying me a brand new fishing rod.
In reality, I am not a huge, addicted angler person.
I do enjoy it, especially fly fishing, but more than anything else I just love to get out on the water in a quiet canoe, fishing rod in one hand, and perchance a cold beer in the other. (I am also very adaptable—I have been known to go out in my canoe and fish without beer—and to beer without fishing).
Thanks to Teresa and her pursuit of finding a canoe, and my new fishing rod, I am ready for the summer of my life.
It is my total focus to squeeze just as many canoe trips, getaways onto the water, picnics, or beach excursions as possible this summer.
I am confident our picnic basket and my new fishing rod will get plenty of attention.
The majority of our time and money this summer will be spent enjoying our own Okanagan Valley, and province, in the laid back pace and space of our canoe.
It cannot get much better than that.
Sigh.
Not sure about you, but I am pretty much done with winter.
hodgepodge2@shaw.ca
