keep calm

Paddle on...

Went on a 20-kilometre canoe trip last weekend. Haven't found peace like that in a long while, yet it was fun too. Need to do more of those.

It was 4.5 hours of cruising down the Grand observing feathered friends (Canada geese, blue herons and peregrine falcons), long wisps of kelp and finding various ways to stretch without interrupting our flow.

Throughout, we also spent time foraging for food from the bottom of our backpacks. Don't know what possessed us but we packed as if we were trekking across land: granola bars, trail mix and bottles of brightly-coloured drinks filled with electrolites. Never had those before. Thought they tasted salty. Is it just me?

Broke for lunch when the sun became ridiculously hot and we were in desperate need of both shade and a bathroom break. We found a place to disembark and inhale our pasta salads, although entirely without shade but with just enough strategic cover for, you know. B - R - U - S - H. That's how we spell relief.

Time seemed to pass quickly once we arrived at our destination. Never would have thought I'd be keen on paddling an entire day away but I would love to do it again. And again and again and again.

Nothing quite beats the quiet and calm of floating down a river in a vessel made for two.