Summer of Boats

We recently used our kayak for the first time. I'd gotten it a couple of years ago after I kayaked on the Deschutes rafting trip with Donna and the Colburns.



You know how some memories are nearly perfect? For me, this is one of them. It was a cool evening after a too-hot day. The light was beautiful. The family was all together and everyone was having a good time.



(It's dark, but you can see the span of the wooden bridge to the Japanese Garden in this picture.) We probably don't use the lake as often as we should. We drive by it every time we leave the house. To get there on foot we have to walk up three houses and cross two streets. It's easy to take it for granted.

We did another kind of boating on the lake over 4th of July weekend. The newspaper and one of the papermills hosted a Cardboard Regatta. John and James spent a few weeks building a boat entirely out of cardboard with the guys from the Jolly family. It was pretty dang cool, and a lot of fun. Audrey joined them in the rowing:



They finished first in their heat, edging out the boat manned by the Longview Police Department, and made it to the semi-finals. There are already plans for next year's boat.

(See the blankets in the picture? People were already claiming their real estate for the fireworks display. Yeah. We can walk to the fireworks display. I think I may have already mentioned that we take our location for granted. The concert series at the lake is underway: seven weeks of Thursday night outdoor concerts at the lake. Tomorrow night is The Beatniks--we may have to go to that one.)