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Jerry Abramson wrote: > > I don't know > what anybody says, but no summertime activities compare to true winter > skiing. Oh hum. > I ditched work yesterday to go canoeing with my daughter on CTs Housatonic. The weather was beautiful, the river was beautiful. I kept thinking, 'I know this is beautiful, but... where's the excitement, where's the thrill of winter weather? I know some people consider this as good as it gets (in the 80s, out having fun on the water) and I know there are amazing water athletes, but it all seems so tame.' I tried reminding myself that hey, this is the first day of the canoe season! just like that day with skiing. It just is not the same. But canoeing aint bad, either. It really was a beautiful day (for summer). The Hoose is a great green/blue river in NW Conn., with put-ins that make good 9 or 4 mile (about) trips. We did the short one, which includes, right at the start, the stretch's biggest rapids--right under a classic covered bridge. (Most of the longer trip is pretty flat.) I like treating the river like a loopy downhill, a slalom course without the speed/race aspect. Laura got contacts this year so all of a sudden she's really spotting rocks from up there in the bow and doing something about them. This was our first time down this river without tipping once. Of course, it helped that the river conditions were pretty gentle too. From take-out back to the car is a sweet bike ride right back up along the river. All in all, a wonderful day, compared to anything but skiing. canoenaut