Lesson 432: Afloat

Good evening to you, Readers.

The weekend is here.

This selfie is taken with my little blue camera

up through the water of Spring Creek in Marienville, PA.

The water was crystal clear and very warm.

The creeks are abnormally low,

but they made for some great exploring earlier this week.

It was easy to spot the creepy crawlies--

not many around in the warm, low water.

Eloise was happy.

A couple of days at camp was just enough to keep Eloise afloat

during such a busy summer.

We decided to venture beyond the swimming hole this time,

and try to navigate the Clarion River near Cooks Forest.

We stopped at the canoe rental place

right next to this fabulous house

and rented ourselves a two hour trip on these tubes.

I chose the blue one with the closed seat and the back rest.

It was perfect.

The rest chose the orange open tubes, and they were fun, too.

I fell in love with the tube rental cabin.

These hats nailed to the ceiling beams

were all left behind or found in the river.

Better yet,

the tree near the river's bark is made of single,

long-lost shoes.

Sam spotted this sign--

and later had an anxiety attack because the teens along for the ride

may have mentioned that the sign was a real warning,

not a fake,

and that alligators preferred the taste of blue eyed blonds.

After teen-scolding,

and offering more reassurance to Sam,

we set off on our journey.

Because the river was so low and slow,

the two hour journey took us way over three hours.

Luckily we heeded the advice of a baseball mom,

and brought along water and snacks.

I highly recommend the activity for anyone,

especially families with kids and teens.

A short, rare, mountain rain shower brought in these neat foggy patches.

Dewey mornings are great for capturing spider webs.

Everyone needs a little time to unplug and connect to nature.

It's healthy for the soul.

The wilderness is good for the soul,

but not so hot for a grad student with no internet service.

Have to cut this blog short tonight in order to stay afloat with my grad class.

Homework tonight.

Lots of it.

Update:

Sam's baseball little league season has officially ended.

The boys suffered a tough loss last Saturday.

The coach's wife's car windshield took quite a hit, too.

The boys can walk away with heads held high.

They had a great season,

played hard,

and learned so much.

Sports teach lessons just as well as those taught in the classroom.

Sam no sooner put his bat bag on the rack,

and pulled out these.

Football season is coming soon!

I'm looking forward to football,

but even more so to next weekend!

I'm headed to Rio next Friday.

Join me!

Look for me by the Lamp Post.

I'll be waving my flag.

ELOISE