Wednesday, January 15, 2014

A Delay and a Run

1/6/2013


It’s Monday.  I’m here in Cariat and have been since Thursday.  The boat builder here has assured me he can follow the instructions I give him and make me a paddle.  

Friday morning a couple of guys on his staff made a lot of calls until they found a place where I can get cedar, maybe.  The place was supposed to call back Friday or after the weekend to confirm.  Today is a holiday, so hopefully I’ll hear from them tomorrow.

I had an interview and a piece was written about me in a local newspaper.  This morning a fellow in a coffee shop recognized me and wanted to take a picture of me.  It was my first taste of celebrity life.  Hopefully when I’m wealthy and famous I won’t forget the little people I stepped on to get there.

Yesterday I went running in the mountains for a couple of hours.  

I climbed along a one lane paved road that dissolved into a couple of muddy wheel ruts with hoof prints.  To my left was a gorge with a rushing stream.  I passed fields, orchards, pasturing cows, and old farmhouses.  The woods smelled like fall and some of the tree colors matched.

I only embedded one thorn in my foot.  There was too much mud to take it out at first, but at the next stream crossing I washed my foot off and pulled the thumbtack sized thorn out.

On my way back down to the apartment I’ve been invited to stay in it rained the whole way.  I passed a group of about ten jeeps and pickup trucks in a field a few hundred yards aways.  I thought this was No Country for Old Men and minded my own business.

In sopping clothing I went to take a shower.  There was no hot water and my heart rate dropped, leaving me very cold.  I warmed up a pot of water on the stove and used it to wash myself in the bathtub a little bit at time.

Hopefully, I’ll soon have a brand new paddle.  The new one will also be a storm paddle, but a few centimeters longer and made from cedar.  If things go right, it will be faster and lighter, and I’ll be on my way with all speed.

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="3362,3361,3360,3359,3358,3357,3356,3355,3354,3353,3352,3351,3350,3349,3348,3347,3346,3345,3344,3343,3342,3341,3340,3339,3338,3337,3336"]

5 comments:

  1. Cool! What does that headline mean?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Er, it's not deep. My trip is delayed while I look for cedar and make my paddle. I also go running. Sorry. Sometimes I feel like I have clever titles, but not here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cool ... I'm sure greater fame and fortune is only a cedar paddle away!

    ReplyDelete
  4. in (the) city- a 30 year-old American who travels the world in a canoe

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aha, Miriam, thanks for clearing that up. I was a bit confused. Sorry Yair.
    Miriam - I didn't know you were following! I hope you enjoy.

    ReplyDelete