Stunt Kite

Here's me out on Ocean Springs Front Beach flying one of our newest stunt kites, the HQ Symphony 2.7. Barely a breeze and still that thing has a pretty good pull. I love the parafoil kites because there's nothing to break and they fold up to a flexible pack. They catch the breeze really well, too. Anyone who wants to learn to fly a stunt kite (hold a string in each hand and steer it around) should definitely start with a parafoil. They're very forgiving. It's a lot of fun. There are SO MANY things I love about living near the water!

This past weekend wasn't a big paddle weekend, but I did get in a couple of quick paddles, plus a nice 5 mile run, 22 mile bike ride, a few other various workouts, some tennis one day last week and today at lunchtime. Tomorrow I do a spin class at lunchtime and play racquetball after work. Variety is a wonderful thing when it comes to exercise. I've spent plenty of years being a couch potato so I'm just really enjoying being relatively fit where I can DO all this stuff. Speaking of tennis - how about that Wimbledon! Awesome. Both Women's and Men's finals were spectacular and inspiring to watch.

Continuous Canvas

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW when the sky will come up with some new painting. It's random (Tyler's favorite word) and spontaneous, and when you least expect it, the most interesting lights and clouds appear. This morning there was an incredible rainbow as I crossed the Biloxi-OS bridge. This last few few weeks have been scattered and isolated thunderstorms. The best part of that is there is plenty of room between them to be able to see the tops from near and far away.

Still can't believe that awesome bay, always there to glide around in, sometimes just inviting you to bump around crossing from shore to shore like a ball on a pool table. That was about the size of this evening's paddle.

Early Morning Storm

I saw this storm building Wednesday morning before 6:00am. Called Mom to see if she could see it from the bay. She saw the storm building and a little later saw this waterspout in the gulf in the picture below.

There are a lot of thunderstorms these days. Last night I paddled the 8 miles to the gulf from Graveline Bay. There were storms in the area but none too close. Just enough to keep most boaters home; only one boat passed me the whole time. It was quiet and calm... the usual jumping mullet in the water... birds fished the shoreline... rumbling thunder in the distance... air temperature was perfect and the water was nice. Most amazing --- absolutely NO BUGS! Not one single mosquito or gnat. What in the world were those bugs thinking, missing a night like that?


Every now and then I think about a new boat. I want to get an optimum glide through the water... to be ONE with the boat. Smaller cockpit, good thigh braces, long and sleek design for fast and smooth travel. Something with good gas mileage : -). I've been happy with mine, but you know, life is short! I've had it for 3 years now. Might be time to try something new.

Summer Thunderstorms

It's raining intermittently again today and I've filled up the day with other things, so unfortunately another weekend goes by without paddling. But, no worries, I will go a day or two after work this week, if the weather cooperates. Today we had the proud parent moment of dropping the kid off at camp! I sure hope he has a good time. I know we will. Anyway, for lack of a paddling trip from this weekend, I've uploaded some pictures from an evening paddle a few days ago. Never assume it's too late in the day, just because the sun is on its way down. There is still time! Especially on the bay where there is no boat traffic after dark.

I went out by myself this particular evening and the water was perfect, the sky was beautiful, and the frogs were loud.

Another evening I went out with Mom, and we watched the sky turn all its different shades of orange after the sun went down. We wondered, "Where's the moon?", knowing it was due to rise as a full moon. We were headed west back to the dock and I looked back at the most amazing sight -- a RED full moon rising over the water. It slowly changed from red to deep orange to orange to yellow, and finally white as it got a little higher in the sky. I've never seen such a thing. It was awesome. Didn't have the camera with us though.

I love these shades of blue and pink on the water when it looks like polished metal.

I thought as I always do how much BETTER it is to be 1) outside and 2) mildly exercising, than sitting at home on the computer (like I am now) or watching TV. The body craves that, the mind craves it, it's what we are supposed to do. Unnatural things happen when we don't live the life we are biologically meant to live - a life filled with frequent activity, fresh air, rhymic movement, physical labor, exposure to the elements, natural light, and sounds of nature. Then we spend our time addressing the problems that come from the symptoms of this unnatural state we tend to create for ourselves. I think that regular doses of the things that made up the life of our ancestors for thousands and thousands of years would do us all a lot of good. And speaking of that, what makes people these days think that we have the right to drill up, and USE UP, all of the oil in this earth? What's so special about US, NOW, that makes it all ours to use? That's about as close to political as I'll get here, and generally I don't even take it into politics -- I just see it from a historical perspective and marvel at how narrow of a view some people have of our dependence on oil and lack of any inclination to reduce it. I'm not radical, but I a willing to suffer a little pain at the gas pump to get me thinking about how to use up less gas, and I'm glad to see everyone else thinking about it.

Since I'm on the subject, let me add one more FASCINATING thing I saw in the newspaper. When thinking about a fuel-efficient vehicle, don't just look at MPG. It's more important to think about gallons per mile. For example, 2 families driving 10,000 miles per year go out a buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. Family A goes from 25 mpg to 50 mpg (Prius, or whatever). Family B goes from 10 mpg (Excursion?) to 15 mpg. Who saves more -- Family A by increasing mpg by 25? Or Family B by increasing mpg by 5? You sure would think it's A, but no....

10,000 miles/25 mpg = 400 gallons
10,000 miles/50 mpg = 200 gallons; Family A saves 200 gallons per year.

10,000 miles/10 mpg = 1,000 gallons
10,000 miles/15 mpg = 666 gallons; Family B saves 333 gallons per year.

That sure makes you think.

Happy paddling...

Magnet

Why do some things in life just draw you in? My left brain tries to make an equation out of it; you are drawn to something, you add up the benefits (fitness, relaxation, learning about your environment, gaining experience), subtract the costs (minimally or nothing in money, costs to relationships, work, etc.), decide if it's worthwhile in terms of what you gain. My left brain is in overdrive right now; a sign of over-efficient mode induced by continuous drive and too many hours at work. Even in this mode, the time on the water brings me relief and happiness. It's really neat how those right things in life just fit in, no matter what your mood or mode, and bring you positives. So kayaking is a no-brainer and definitely deemed worthwhile no matter what the equation. I like the "Life is good" motto on all the T-shirts and stuff:

DO WHAT YOU LIKE.

LIKE WHAT YOU DO.

Finding that balance is key. It's very difficult in mid-life when so many things are competing for your attention. What do you do? Cover the basics, let time work in your favor, build your foundations, keep the essential elements strong... and give yourself time for what you enjoy. I guess that's my self-help book.

So, kayaking trips... When you set out without a plan, it gives your mind a chance to make decisions along the way based on many input factors, but mostly just what you feel like doing. That's a nice exercise in itself.

But anyway, besides all the philosophy, I had a nice kayak trip Sunday evening that ended with the sun going down and the moon coming up. I love it when that happens! I have had a few other good trips lately. One was at high tide, going through the marsh trails to Old Shell Landing. Another few trips with the dog on the Hobie. Several times I've been out with wind and waves that were sort of fun.

Also biked a few nice trips, including the wonderful new Ocean Springs-Biloxi bridge with its pedestrian and bike path. That's about the best thing to happen around here in a long time!

Spring Green

It's 76 degrees and beautiful! I aimed to to spend the whole day outside today, and came pretty close to it. My to-do list didn't get any shorter, but it will have to wait... Spring doesn't last long.

Rode the bike around OS and over to the kayak. Kayaked to the gulf, a trip I haven't done in a while. I was going against both the wind and the tide going out, so going back was easy. As you can see the azaleas are in bloom. The trees have the young green leaves out and there are new shades of green everywhere.

5 miles or so

A strange hazy-humid and very warm day yesterday invited me out to stretch my paddling muscles (in need of more exercise) and visit the bayou as it goes into springtime. The water is still cool, but the birds are making a lot more noise, and the air feels great.

The tide was high and I was able to explore a new place in the bayou, in past what I call redfish cove, branching out from the fishing hole, which is a big open spot in the bayou as it goes out to the gulf where you often see several boats. It's amazing how many new places there are to find! I came back after sunset, not even noticing the partial moon straight above my head. I thought it was the glow in the western sky that provided the small bit of light that I needed.

Once again I noticed how un-scary the water is, in daylight and in dark. But I need to remind myself to be prepared for any circumstance, such as always having all supplies (paddle float, pump, flashlight, small spare paddle, etc.) with me. It is definitely nice to have full storage facilities back where the kayak lives. I should keep a set of shorts/t-shirt available so EVERYTHING is there to go by on a whim and paddle at any time... after work, morning, evening... the days are much longer now and there is more time available. Yesterday was a gloriously long day! I feel like today is a bonus day for the weekend.