Let's Yak
Fall is here. Wet. Cold. Hostas limp from a killing frost. Field mice moving into the barn. But the paddling is still mighty fine.
"Let's yak," Renee wrote in the subject line of her e-mail. So despite the light rain and 50 degree temp, we launched her Perception kayak and my Mohawk solo into the upper St. Joe River this afternoon.
We paddled upstream to the iron bridge and, as we floated back, the sun came out. The skies were October blue, such an intense blue not seen the rest of the year. The sky and trees, mostly gold but some red, were reflected in the water for a double dose of natural beauty.
Then we sat around the campfire pit and continued to yak.
What a wonderful fall day.
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Showing posts with label River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label River. Show all posts
River Party
Fall River Party
Saturday was the tenth annual Bishop gathering at the St. Joseph River. Not having a rain plan, I was pleased to awake to blue skies and sunshine, and the cool air made it a perfect fall day.
At 2:00, 25 of us gathered - from 18 months old to 81 years old. We cooked Beef Gascon in a large kettle over the open fire while the rest of the family brought side dishes and desserts. Tim brought bushels of apples from his trees, which has become part of the fall ritual.
In the afternoon, part of us went up to the Highlands and part of us stayed at the Property. (Yes, we own two river properties in addition to our home - which makes for LOTS of mowing.) In the barn at the Highlands, Mom was giving away some of her stuff she couldn't fit in her new apartment. The brothers and sister and I were reluctant to select anything in case others may want it, but the grandkids had no such compunction. (My son Ron has been reading Dad's WWII training manuals all week.) Tim brought his black powder musket and made some loud noises shooting the targets while the teenagers played a game of football.
Back at the property, Steve gave rides on the riverboat, even after night fell. The teenagers also took the canoes out; luckily no one fell in this year. Last year, Caecilia fell in after her canoe was rammed by her brother. I never saw anyone move so fast for shore as the canoe floated downstream.
The stew was done so we gathered to eat after praising God for our family and the day. After we took the kettle off the fire, Jennifer fried some bacon and mush for entertainment as the bacon grease caught on fire. Sated, we sat around the fire and told scary stories. One story made even the adults shriek in horror: President Kerry. We hid in the dark to scare the returning nighttime river boat riders. However, Grandma hid in her car and had trouble with her automatic headlights, etc.-our sides were splitting watching her antics. Andy's title is still secure though-the kids said that no one at the river has ever hidden and scared them as much as Andy once did. Then the storytelling started again as Mike softly played his guitar with Jennifer on harmonica with 3-year-old Morgan helping her. Each story outdid the previous one until Jenny capped off the evening with a thinly disguised Stephen King tale adapted to the Saint Frances Bass Mansion.
Saturday was the tenth annual Bishop gathering at the St. Joseph River. Not having a rain plan, I was pleased to awake to blue skies and sunshine, and the cool air made it a perfect fall day.
At 2:00, 25 of us gathered - from 18 months old to 81 years old. We cooked Beef Gascon in a large kettle over the open fire while the rest of the family brought side dishes and desserts. Tim brought bushels of apples from his trees, which has become part of the fall ritual.
In the afternoon, part of us went up to the Highlands and part of us stayed at the Property. (Yes, we own two river properties in addition to our home - which makes for LOTS of mowing.) In the barn at the Highlands, Mom was giving away some of her stuff she couldn't fit in her new apartment. The brothers and sister and I were reluctant to select anything in case others may want it, but the grandkids had no such compunction. (My son Ron has been reading Dad's WWII training manuals all week.) Tim brought his black powder musket and made some loud noises shooting the targets while the teenagers played a game of football.
Back at the property, Steve gave rides on the riverboat, even after night fell. The teenagers also took the canoes out; luckily no one fell in this year. Last year, Caecilia fell in after her canoe was rammed by her brother. I never saw anyone move so fast for shore as the canoe floated downstream.
The stew was done so we gathered to eat after praising God for our family and the day. After we took the kettle off the fire, Jennifer fried some bacon and mush for entertainment as the bacon grease caught on fire. Sated, we sat around the fire and told scary stories. One story made even the adults shriek in horror: President Kerry. We hid in the dark to scare the returning nighttime river boat riders. However, Grandma hid in her car and had trouble with her automatic headlights, etc.-our sides were splitting watching her antics. Andy's title is still secure though-the kids said that no one at the river has ever hidden and scared them as much as Andy once did. Then the storytelling started again as Mike softly played his guitar with Jennifer on harmonica with 3-year-old Morgan helping her. Each story outdid the previous one until Jenny capped off the evening with a thinly disguised Stephen King tale adapted to the Saint Frances Bass Mansion.
Little Bean River
Come back with me to a time
long gone
My ancestors walked this
Way
They came from the north and the
East
Following this river down
This river, my river
Gave them life; now
No one sees the water
My husband wrote this last semester as part of an assignment to write a poem in the style of the Chinese poetry they were studying in his Humanities class.
The Miami Indians called the St. Joseph River the “Little Bean River,” thus the title. When the Miami moved into this part of Indiana, they found the river that the French called the St. Joseph.
My husband's ancestors truly walked the banks of the St. Joseph and the banks of Cedar Creek. In the late 1930s, his grandfather was on a crew that built dams on the St. Joseph at Leo and Spencerville, as well as the dam at Cedarville on Cedar Creek.
The St. Joseph is ignored by most people despite its historical significance to this area. Ten thousand coaches cross the bridge on Coliseum Blvd. everyday, yet no one even looks at the river. The St. Joseph River is arguably the primary reason that Fort Wayne was settled; yet, Americans ignore their rivers, and their past.
His poem, “Little Bean River,” was inspired, in part, by “Passing Ti-en Men Street,” by Po chu-i. Po chu-I mentions mountains twice in the poem; the first reference is in line 1, when he names the mountain, and the second reference is contained in the last line when he says, mournfully, that no one looks at the mountains. This line is the line that inspired, partially, “Little Bean River.” When Po chu-I says “a thousand coaches, ten thousand horsemen pass,” my husband was reminded of the traffic on Coliseum when “not one man” will “turn his head and look at the river.”
We have two properties on the St. Joe River and spend a lot of time on it and by it. The "Boys Club," just north of Leo, is where we camp and canoe. And, yes, there is a boys club on the land. I'm allowed in but not allowed to decorate. "The Highlands," upriver near the Covered Bridge, is where we have our tree farm. A day at the Highlands is usually a day of hard work.
Come back with me to a time
long gone
My ancestors walked this
Way
They came from the north and the
East
Following this river down
This river, my river
Gave them life; now
No one sees the water
My husband wrote this last semester as part of an assignment to write a poem in the style of the Chinese poetry they were studying in his Humanities class.
The Miami Indians called the St. Joseph River the “Little Bean River,” thus the title. When the Miami moved into this part of Indiana, they found the river that the French called the St. Joseph.
My husband's ancestors truly walked the banks of the St. Joseph and the banks of Cedar Creek. In the late 1930s, his grandfather was on a crew that built dams on the St. Joseph at Leo and Spencerville, as well as the dam at Cedarville on Cedar Creek.
The St. Joseph is ignored by most people despite its historical significance to this area. Ten thousand coaches cross the bridge on Coliseum Blvd. everyday, yet no one even looks at the river. The St. Joseph River is arguably the primary reason that Fort Wayne was settled; yet, Americans ignore their rivers, and their past.
His poem, “Little Bean River,” was inspired, in part, by “Passing Ti-en Men Street,” by Po chu-i. Po chu-I mentions mountains twice in the poem; the first reference is in line 1, when he names the mountain, and the second reference is contained in the last line when he says, mournfully, that no one looks at the mountains. This line is the line that inspired, partially, “Little Bean River.” When Po chu-I says “a thousand coaches, ten thousand horsemen pass,” my husband was reminded of the traffic on Coliseum when “not one man” will “turn his head and look at the river.”
We have two properties on the St. Joe River and spend a lot of time on it and by it. The "Boys Club," just north of Leo, is where we camp and canoe. And, yes, there is a boys club on the land. I'm allowed in but not allowed to decorate. "The Highlands," upriver near the Covered Bridge, is where we have our tree farm. A day at the Highlands is usually a day of hard work.
Show Choir Fall Preview
Show Choir Fall Preview
Ricky made his debut last night, as did his cousin Caecilia, with a Gershwin medley. It was beautiful. The joy in Ricky’s face, a grin that wouldn’t stop and sparkling eyes, was evident to all based on comments after the performance. This happened in the 7th grade talent contest, when he sang acapello “Down in the River to Pray” from “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” and we locked eyes, the joy escalating between us until all else faded away and he was just singing to his Mama. I had to look away, afraid he would float off the stage – which of course would make him lose his place!
Morgan, his three-year-old cousin, sat behind us last night and her father told me that she pointed to Ricky on stage and then pointed to me several times. Then in the "meet and greet" time after the concert, Caleb, her 18 month old brother, became enamored of kissing my mom, his great-grandmother. With a serious little boy face, he leaned to her for a kiss about twenty times. My sister and I couldn’t stop laughing.
The highlight of Ricky’s night was the "meet and greet". Dressed in a white tux, it was a time when this freshman man-boy could hug and kiss all the pretty Show Choir girls in congratulations. When he got in the car to go home (after a mild argument “No, you cannot ride with the senior boys to the Mexican restaurant.”) he asked me, with a big grin, “Do I have lipstick on my face?”
Ricky made his debut last night, as did his cousin Caecilia, with a Gershwin medley. It was beautiful. The joy in Ricky’s face, a grin that wouldn’t stop and sparkling eyes, was evident to all based on comments after the performance. This happened in the 7th grade talent contest, when he sang acapello “Down in the River to Pray” from “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” and we locked eyes, the joy escalating between us until all else faded away and he was just singing to his Mama. I had to look away, afraid he would float off the stage – which of course would make him lose his place!
Morgan, his three-year-old cousin, sat behind us last night and her father told me that she pointed to Ricky on stage and then pointed to me several times. Then in the "meet and greet" time after the concert, Caleb, her 18 month old brother, became enamored of kissing my mom, his great-grandmother. With a serious little boy face, he leaned to her for a kiss about twenty times. My sister and I couldn’t stop laughing.
The highlight of Ricky’s night was the "meet and greet". Dressed in a white tux, it was a time when this freshman man-boy could hug and kiss all the pretty Show Choir girls in congratulations. When he got in the car to go home (after a mild argument “No, you cannot ride with the senior boys to the Mexican restaurant.”) he asked me, with a big grin, “Do I have lipstick on my face?”
Thursday Three
Another Thursday Three from the Possum
1.) Have you traveled anywhere by boat (across a pond or around the ocean)?
No oceans but about every other type of waterway: Great Lakes, lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, and even a swamp in Louisiana
2.) Have you ever owned a boat?
Well, right now we have 6 canoes, 1 jon boat and 1 paddlewheel boat.
3.) If you were to take a boat trip and had unlimited funds and no motion sickness, where would you go, who would you take and what kind of boat would you go on?
I'd take only my husband. We dream about two trips in our canoes. The first trip starts on the Eel River (a few miles from our house) which empties into the Wabash River, which empties into the Ohio which empties into the Mississippi, then down Ol' Man River to New Orleans. That's a realistic dream, but with unlimited funds (and time), I'd extend our paddle through Central and South America. I'd have to get a map to determine our route. The other trip we dream about is on Nahinni inspired by Dangerous River. We located several outfitters who will take us down the river but the cost is too high. Donations accepted!
Bonus question: What food stuffs would you want if you were marooned.
Terry had the right idea with MREs. We took them on the mule trip into Three Sisters Wilderness area and survived very nicely. I'd also include "Icing on the Cake" coffee beans.
1.) Have you traveled anywhere by boat (across a pond or around the ocean)?
No oceans but about every other type of waterway: Great Lakes, lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, and even a swamp in Louisiana
2.) Have you ever owned a boat?
Well, right now we have 6 canoes, 1 jon boat and 1 paddlewheel boat.
3.) If you were to take a boat trip and had unlimited funds and no motion sickness, where would you go, who would you take and what kind of boat would you go on?
I'd take only my husband. We dream about two trips in our canoes. The first trip starts on the Eel River (a few miles from our house) which empties into the Wabash River, which empties into the Ohio which empties into the Mississippi, then down Ol' Man River to New Orleans. That's a realistic dream, but with unlimited funds (and time), I'd extend our paddle through Central and South America. I'd have to get a map to determine our route. The other trip we dream about is on Nahinni inspired by Dangerous River. We located several outfitters who will take us down the river but the cost is too high. Donations accepted!
Bonus question: What food stuffs would you want if you were marooned.
Terry had the right idea with MREs. We took them on the mule trip into Three Sisters Wilderness area and survived very nicely. I'd also include "Icing on the Cake" coffee beans.
This is the St. Joseph River, where we ply our paddleboat, when the snow and ice are gone. We are monitoring the creation of a new island in the middle of the river, starting with a log jam, next came several wetland plants and now we are seeing small sycamores and other wetland trees, meanwhile soil is accumulating.
River Time
There was a full moon last night so we went down to the river to burn off the brush pile created by the new trail Eddie blazed. By the full moon and bright firelight, Steve wrote poetry, Ron started on the code for his first computer game, and Rick drew a cartoon satire of Lord of the Rings while Eddie and I played lap dulcimers. He taught me how to accompany him on an old russion folk song. He was all over the place while I played 1-2 and-3-4 in a minor key. What a treat for a weeknight.
There was a full moon last night so we went down to the river to burn off the brush pile created by the new trail Eddie blazed. By the full moon and bright firelight, Steve wrote poetry, Ron started on the code for his first computer game, and Rick drew a cartoon satire of Lord of the Rings while Eddie and I played lap dulcimers. He taught me how to accompany him on an old russion folk song. He was all over the place while I played 1-2 and-3-4 in a minor key. What a treat for a weeknight.