Last weekend, this week, this weekend

Last weekend I took the canoe I was given and put it into the quarry lake on the property adjoining our farm. I had outfitted the canoe with a rod holder so I could take several rods along without having to work around them as I put out the jugs I had made. I worked to get everything ready Friday evening and put the canoe in the water early Saturday afternoon. I only had three jugs ready, but I was excited to get them out and test them. I was careful with the canoe, staying in the middle of the canoe to keep away from any type of tipping hazard. It went so well that I texted Mama later that day to tell her I was confident we could make it work for us as our go-to watercraft for the lake. It did not go so well that evening when I went out to pick up the jugs.

On both excursions, I fished a few minutes as I either set out the jugs or retrieved them. On both occasions I caught a nice sized bass. Saturday evening, as I was retrieving the last jug – I had caught nothing on the jugs – I was gently blown against the bank of the lake by the constant wind. I had moved to the front of the canoe but thought nothing of it as I took the oar and pushed myself (and the canoe) away from the bank. I must have leaned into the oar as I pushed off the bank because the canoe immediately flipped over; dumping me into the lake. Not really that big a deal but I had not taken my phone off before launching the canoe into the water. I was in shallow enough water that I could stand. It was just above by waste – which kept my phone underwater for a minute or more as I pulled the canoe far enough onto the bank to dump out some of the water in it.

I belatedly put my phone in the dry box in the canoe, recovered everything but a pair of needle nose plyers (they do not float) and headed to the launch site; anxious to get my phone into a bag of rice to try to dry and salvage it. Having water in the canoe made it a struggle to get the canoe steered to the place I needed to get to in order to get it out of the water. There is not much “beach” in the quarry lake so there are only a few places to launch a boat into the lake. What water was still in the canoe made it very difficult to get the canoe out of the water and onto the bank so that I could dump the water out of the canoe and load it back onto the trailer. All in all, it was a half hour before I got the phone into the rice to hopefully dry it out. In the end, my poor phone died completely. A sad, tragic, painful electronic death. It sputtered and flashed and almost worked a time or two. But eventually it went completely dark. I am searching for an inexpensive replacement now – but I am not hurrying. We do not have the money to upgrade yet, so I just need something to get by for a few months. The issue is that I need to stay in the Apple line of products. It will eventually work out.

Mama is ready for me to get a phone. It is her link to me when I am working. We have been sadly out of touch through this week as I have been working remotely at the Texas Motor Speedway. Only on Monday did we stay in touch. I took that day off to take her to the Texas State Fair. That was a fun, albeit expensive day. But, Tuesday through Thursday, I have left the house very early and returned very late as I participated in our company conference. I taught class on Tuesday, then stayed for a reception out on the track – as people who attending the conference took rides in the race cars.

One poor young lady even got to experience a crash as the car she was riding in broke a ball joint at 160 mph slamming into the wall forward, then in reverse as it spun out of control. Neither she nor the driver were seriously injured, but she had some significant bruising from the harness and helmet as she got slapped around during the two impact episodes. Amazingly, she got into the next ride along and went back out on the track. They took her for a couple extra laps in appreciation of her resilience. I got home about 8 pm Tuesday.

Wednesday, I attended a full day of speakers and panel discussions that lasted, reception included, until about the same time. Yesterday, I helped in a class that finished up at lunchtime. None of the seventeen participants were disappointed by the early completion time. I stayed for lunch, sitting with some of the folks I had met during the conference then headed out. I was back in the office at about 1:30 pm. Home at my normal time. Mama was excited. It was a grueling week for all our company folks, but the company benefitted greatly from it.

Last night, Mama and I attended the monthly beekeepers meeting. We are looking forward to setting up our hives. With the contacts we have through the group in the area, we should be in good shape next year to get the hives going. We were told not to expect any honey our first year. The goal is to get the hives going. To get the colonies strong – well established and reproducing. We are as ready as we can get for now.

This weekend will be spent catching up to all that was not done during the week…that includes making up for time not spent with Mama.