I am an official Paddle-Bum now and I couldn't be more pleased

Got called a paddle-bum yesterday, not once but twice. Husband says "I was a surf-bum when I was a kid. But now I'm all grown up and responsible."(scowls at me) and I cheerfully say "well then, I am reverse aging! I am finally getting to enjoy my childhood!"


Paddle-bum is not an insult, it was more like an honorific. That's Lady Paddle-Bum to you sir!

I am enjoying my second childhood. I have reached some strange age or wisdom, where, in spite of my health, my fitness is increasing and I just can't be unhappy for any period longer than say 10 minutes.

I have been slow to edit my photos but here are a few. I have seen some pretty amazing things while on the water recently. I watched a bald eagle chase an osprey for at least 5 minutes trying to get a fish away from the smaller bird. He could have gotten his own meal in the same five minutes. I saw thick mist rising from the water on a still morning at dawn and then paddled through it. I found that I am able to make a 0730 put-in, when I haven't been able to function that early in the morning in years. I watched a pair of hawks circling each other and then landing in a tree in apparent harmony. And I have been slow to get the camera out instead emphasizing living in each moment without bothering to try and catch them digitally.

White and reindeer colored white tail does with Kat in the foreground

Last of the fall color at the Great Marsh, Mason Neck, Virginia

Just an interesting shot of a pair of paddlers from our One-Way Pohick to Mason Neck trip

Becky and some crows

Due to my camera's quirks this shot came out oddly colored and over-exposed. This is, I am pretty sure, Pete.