Day 1 and Day 12

ok, so i'm starting this blog a little late. i should have started it on day 1, but c'est la vie. until i get caught up i'll just post 2 days in one--the current day and a flashback day
(cue wavy lines).

Day Beta (6-29-2009) and Day 1 (6/12/2010)

technically speaking, 6-29-09 was my very first day of kayaking ever so i did not want to exclude it, but my real kayaking journey with consecutive kayaking experiences began on 6-12-10 which, henceforth will be referred to as "Day 1."

i have wanted i kayak for as long as i can remember, but as usual, time and or money constraints have always stood in the way of my dream on kayak ownership...until last year when my brilliant wife found a big blue plastic kayak lounging in the sunny warmth of someones front yard at a yard sale. knowing my affinity for big blue things, she bought it for a mere $80 and presented it to me for father's day. needless to say, i was ecstatic. on father's day i took it for a spin (along with Danielle, her father, and the kids in canoes) and immediately fell in love. that was day beta my very first kayaking experience. that was also a year ago. i did not get another chance to go kayaking again that year. one reason was because i did not have my own life jacket (i had used one of my father-in-laws jackets) and i had no way of transporting it (i had loaded it in my father-in-laws truck with his canoes). plus we had some time issues, you know, the usual. this year i was ready. i bought a new life jacket and a kayak roof carrier and waited for my chance. that chance came the weekend before father's day, when on saturday, june 12 when Danielle got home from work and suggested that i go kayaking at Edinboro lake. while she took the kids to the beach. Woo-hoo! with the help of my new roof rack i was loaded-up and ready to go in about 30 minutes (i had a little trouble with some of the straps). by the time we got to the lake it had become cloudy and and rainy so i was only able to get in about 15 or 20 minutes of kayaking, but it was worth it. i met two other kayakers that day. Mike and Will. they said i looked pretty good for that only being my second time kayaking. they also offered that, if i ran into them again, they would show my a few stokes. i wasn't sure if it was a kayaking thing or a gay thing, but i said "ok" anyway. at that point i figured i could use all the help i could get.

Day 12 (6-23-2010)

today i saw blue heron. i normally only see ducks, geese, and swallows, but today i saw blue heron. two to be exact. i watched the first one fly in and land among the lily pads about 200 yards way. i hoped, that if i was stealthy enough, i could sneak up close enough to get a good picture. i made it within about 50 yards of the majestic bird padding so carefully that i was barely moving and was hardly making a sound. i reached for my plastic bag clad camera and and opened it. "ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiip." on a quite lake in the early morning a ziploc bag opening makes A LOT of noise. the heron flew before i could even take the camera out of the bag. damn you ziploc and the superior technology of you gripping zipper! i tried the same technique with the second heron i saw this morning (except i got my camera out of the bag earlier and farther away) but my ninja skills were not up to the challenge and the heron flew before i could get close enough for a good picture. this is a picture of where the blue heron was. it was still a good day on the lake. 

oh,... and i decided to start a blog too.