Pulling The Plug

Today I wimped out.

Today I got up looking forward to a nice, relaxing kayak with my Dad. Envision this: a quiet paddle in a local conservation area among the cattails and shallow water, watching out for geese and goslings and perhaps an osprey.

Today I went to the garage to pack up my boating things and discovered how cold it was. Long sleeves, a heavy hoodie and a windbreaker later, I was the picture of Canadian layering. I loaded the car.

We arrived at the muddy little parking lot and checked out the muddy little path that was the boat launch. More noticeable than the mud was the wind. The baby geese were paddling in to the West wind for all they were worth and they were doing a poor job of holding their positions. Even the waves weren't waves - more like the top 6 inches of water were just skidding East. Quickly. Forcefully.

That was when I wimped out. Dad and I drove back home and I made waffles. In my defence, I did leave the boat on the car (tie-downs loose and locked to the roof rack) in case the wind quit. But the wind never quit. So I didn't go out.

I had really wanted to go kayaking. But I pulled the plug on our adventure. I should have been happy with my decision. But it bothered me all day.

This evening, my Dad called. It seems he had returned home after waffles this morning and put his boat away. And there, sitting there waiting for him, were the plugs he had removed from his kayak the last time he unloaded. Had he put his kayak in the water this morning, he would have been very wet and mostly submerged very shortly after putting in.

Sometimes it's funny the way things just work out for the best.