CANOE LESSONS LEARNED

click pictures to enlarge At last the weather is cooperating. Sixty degrees and a lot of sunshine. I had the canoe on top the truck in record time. Today I will head South to Chilhowie Resevoir. Actually I want to paddle through the stump infested water at the tail end of Tellico Lake. Chilhowie Lake spills into Tellico Lake through Chilhowie Dam. The flooded stump field starts right at the bottom of the dam. The water was calm and smooth when I put the canoe in the water but someone decided to release water through the dam while I was half way across the lake to the stump fields. The water is extremely low over where the stumps are because the releases from Chilhowie have been few over the past Winter. TVA has been making repairs on the dam and all but emptied it. Therefore, the waters of Tellico have been down in depth also. But for the moment I have to deal with rather rolling water with a pretty fair size chop on the surface. Humm; the Champlain is handling it just fine. I usually paddle on the left side but now I am forced to paddle on the right side because the current is driving me upstream. Actually I'm really having to paddle hard to keep the canoe driving straight across the channel to the stumps and more shallow water. Interesting. The choppy water is contacting the boat on its left side and the roundness of the canoe's bottom is simply rolling up and over the small waves. Great! Another lesson learned. Chop of this size won't be a detriment to my safety. Of course; chop occurs in varying sizes clear up to and including white caps. Those would be nasty. Anyway; I made it across the channel and am in quieter water. I notice that geese are gathering on the now exposed temporary islands. They are preparing for Spring mating and are in the process of selecting partners. My paddle was striking the side of the canoe as I was fighting chop and disturbed a couple of island residents with my approach. A narrow channel of water that flowed between two islands allowed me to paddle around to the back side of the lake. The water became more shallow as I proceeded. Eventually the canoe ran aground in less than three inches of water. Amazing! I'm in the middle of a lake and in three inches of water. I could get out and walk. I could just push the canoe forward, barely, by sticking the paddle in the mud and pushing. I wondered if it would be possible to become stuck out here. If you enlarge the photo you can see the bottom. Yes, I'm in the middle of the lake. This could only happen to me. The canoe moved in and out of these shallow situations for better than an hour. Then at last I hit open water and could maneuver the boat as it was intended. It was a very interesting morning. I ran through strong current and adapted a paddle stroke to deal with it. I paddled into a situation where the canoe was practically grounded and polled through that. For awhile there I was thinking of portaging across that shallow water to deeper fare. I thought better of it though. With my luck I would step into quick sand. I think I'll go get Douglas and head for the woods. The photo above is of Shad breaking through the water down on Tellico Lake at the East Shore hiking trail. Douglas and I are walking the trail along the lake. Right now I'm sitting on the bank watching Douglas swim and having fun on the shoreline. The wind has stopped completely and not a leaf is moving. Old Sol is rapidly descending behind the horizon over toward the West. Doves can be heard from across the lake cooing out their forlorn calls. Somewhere behind me a screech owl contributes his comments to the oncoming evening. And there is a new sound I haven't heard before. It is as if a steady trickle of water were patting down on a plastic frizby turned upside down. Power lines! The damn power lines! I can't totally escape society even out here. Even electricity makes obnoxious noises. Amazing! The sun is going down quickly so I better be moving along. This has been a full day. A very full day. And I can't wait until tomorrow. Maybe Indian Boundary Lake and more otters. Incidently; there is a Nikon D300 in my very near future. No more excuses for blurry photos.

WINTER CANOE

cLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE I have been trying for two weeks to get the canoe out and finally the weather gave me a 30 degree sunny morning. Perfect. I had heard of a canoe trail located on Melton Hill Lake and decided that I would give it a try. The trail is only four and a half miles long. I ran it in no time and decided to venture on down the lake shore line and try to find some photo opportunities. There were a few. But the thing I did not count on was ice. I rounded a tip of land that jutted out into the lake and entered a cove. As I paddled on deeper into the cove I started to hear ice being broken by the bow of the canoe. Whoops! The canoe listed left and right and I realized it was trying to ride up onto the ice. Of course it did. So there I was sitting in my canoe that had driven up and onto a sheet of ice just thick enough to support it. I began chipping away in even amounts on both sides of the canoe so the boat would settle back into the water evenly. It worked. Back paddle time. The bow would not break a way through the ice going forward. I backed it out into the thinner ice where I could turn and make way for the more open water. There was no danger involved with this whole maneuver; just interesting. Of course it's one of those occurrences that one tucks back into the memory for future usage when a situation like this happens on a greater magnitude. I can imagine camping and awaking next morning to find myself frozen in; ice too thick for the canoe to break and not thick enough for me to walk out on. Portage? I guess. This canoe certainly allows one to gain close proximity to wildlife. I took many pictures of herons today because that is about all I could find. But I did get some great shots of these big birds. The bird in the above picture and the following sequences just stood there as I cruised up to him. He appears almost three dimensional in the pictures if one clicks to enlarge. I am always on the lookout for beavers. Beavers and otters are my favorite lake mammals. I enjoy watching their antics, especially the otters. Beavers seem to always be on a mission. Sometimes they can be seen grooming themselves but mostly they are secretive and difficult to find. The dead give away, however, for the presence of beaver are the trees stripped of bark along the shoreline. And sometimes entire trees cut down; or should I say chewed down. I beached the canoe for a trail mix snack and noticed a little indication of beaver activity. OK; a big indication. This beaver must weigh 500 pounds. Campers would scream in terror and small children would run for their lives. Well; not really. It's obvious this guy likes this particular tree. He's come back over and over to dine on it's succulent pithy wood. But just look at what he has accomplished here. A view from the back side of the tree indicates the beaver will fell this huge tree shortly. Nature's little wood carvers. Look at that pile of shavings. Busy little beaver for sure. I enjoy silently paddling along the banks of the lake. I never know what may appear just around the corner. And there is always something that makes me want to pull close to the shoreline and beach the canoe. I sometimes like to just find a tree growing with just the right curve to it's trunk to fit my back. Of course some deep leaves at it's base is nice too. I'm keeping my eye open for just such a spot. It is a cold day here on the lake and there is ice in the shaded places. And, I found out, there is ice in not so shade places also. I pulled into a cove and listened intently as the bow of the canoe broke through the thin sheet ice. Eventually it became so thick that the boat ran up on top of the ice. There I was. I sat there like a dummy thinking "why didn't I see this coming?" It was not a big deal. I simply jabbed the paddle down into the ice and broke it through. I did have enough common sense to break the ice evenly on both sides of the boat so the canoe would settle back into the water evenly and not favor one side more than the other. I could see the snow laying on the water but I never thought much about running through ice. My other boat has a motor and weighs a lot more too. The ice is thin here and I was having a great time pretending I was an ice breaker. Then it got thicker. Then; oops! Time to chunk through the ice so the boat can settle back into the water again. Oh well; live and learn. Time for a snack. Good old trail mix. Now to find a perfect tree to lean against and just look at things. What a great canoe! I am really loving it. This thing takes me anywhere I desire in total silence. I'm sitting here looking at it resting in the water by the weeds and admiring it's lines. She's light weight and sleek. Great glide and fast too. I can't wait to do some camping out of this boat. I hope I can figure how to include Douglas in canoe adventures. He's a lot of moving weight to compensate for though. I think the best part of canoeing is the silence of everything. One can hear twigs breaking on the shoreline announcing the approach of some woodland creature. This early warning sound allows time to grab the camera and be ready for whatever may occur. However; when Winter ends and Summer starts; this lake, and many more recreational lakes will be inundated with pleasure boats, screaming kids and loud radios carried by monster boats that throw up huge wakes capable of upsetting a meager canoe. So I'll have to resort to the mountain lakes where motors are not permitted. And that is ok by me. But Winter shuts down all the lake activity as far as motor boating goes. The only folks who one finds on the lakes in Winter are die hard fishermen (which are few) and hermit types who are rapidly advancing to recluse status the older they get. I certainly don't fit that category; do I? I am the only soul on this lake today. Time to head back to the truck. I believe I'll paddle across the lake and return via the opposite shoreline. A movement on the bank! It's just another heron. But this guy is going to be a model for heron's. He doesn't even see me floating up to him. He is posing. He's preening his feathers. If I had to name this guy I'd name him Mr Happy. Look at that face. He looks like he is totally upset with the outcome of his life. No doubt about it. Grouchy! Animals are humerus and unpredictable. That's why I love them so much. Until next time; enjoy life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE

click photo's to enlarge I've been just messing around looking at my own blog and wondering about stuff. I've come to the conclusion that in the short almost 5 years since I have move to Tennessee; I have done more stuff than the average guy can usually do in almost a lifetime. I mean I just click on one blog entry and go to another and on and on and on. I don't do city stuff but as far as wilderness type experiences goes I've done and seen a lot. And I feel I'm just getting started. The canoe has opened up an entirely new avenue for adventure and camping experiences. The Gheenoe is waiting to go wherever I point it. And the motorcycle is ready right now to take me to BC if I ask it to. And I got the best friends in my dogs a man ever had; and they are always ready to surprise me with some antic. I am and always was inclined to do things in the wilderness areas and enjoy the minimalist experiences. Never did go much for bars, restaurants and malls. I haven't even been in Knoxville in two years. The biggest town I have been to is Maryville and that's where I work. Even there, I take the country road back home to my little warehouse hole in the wall home. Nothing more than a big dog house really. The dogs outnumber me six to one. Sometimes I feel like I'm the visitor here. Tennessee has presented an opportunity to really get away from people and humanity and to wander around over water and country that is truly wilderness and unencumbered by private ownership. Pennsylvania doesn't have the endless forests and doesn't have the huge waterways as does Tennessee. When hiking Pennsylvania woods and trails back in the early 90's, the only forest creatures I could come across were porcupines and deer. Occasionally I would come across a rattle snake or a skunk and squirrels. But here in Tennessee I see a multitude of wildlife. Every trip on the lake is like a trip through a wildlife kaleidoscope. On any excursion I can see deer swimming across a lake, great herons, otter, vultures at the lake's edge, wild boar, beaver, black bear, loons, storks, egrets, osprey's and bald eagles. The wild boar are so plentiful along selected lake edges that one must take care on selecting a camp site. Douglas is a comfort in that regard as he is the best alarm there is. He hears and sees all. I have not bettered myself financially with this move. But I have greatly enriched my life. I've met new friends and have lost one very good one. I would have never known him had I not moved here. I have fallen in love for the second time in my life and have not been able to handle the experience. A weakness on my part. I will not allow love to happen in my life again. I have even had the good fortune of landing a job with the prestigious TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). And I currently work for the best motorcycle dealership on the planet; Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson. My dogs are my family now and each of them has a personality that I must fuel with understanding and compassion. They depend on me and I do them. They are comfort in the cold of winter and offer companionship at all times. They give me their undying dedication and ask for nothing in return. They are simplistic in their needs and I go overboard trying to protect them and give them comfort when all they need is a shelter, food and water. So It's been a fast 5 years since I've arrived in this beautiful place. If the health holds out there will be lots of adventures to come. The golden dog will be on the point of the boat and we'll be stirring things up in the back country this year. I am looking forward to a lot more blog entries and a lot more experiences with Douglas and the other guys. I hope you continue to enjoy this blog.

FOR JULIA

Her body ached as she crawled out from under the brush pile and stretched. The pain in her rear legs caused her to wince as she extended them full length rearward to awaken tired old muscles. The sun was just starting to rise and there was a threat of rain. It did rain during the night and the brush pile she slept under presented a poor barrier to the elements. The combination of cold, wet ground and thirty five degree air temperature forced her from her frigid bed and prompted movement.. As long as she could arise in the mornings and move on; she would be alright. Her body was emaciated. Soon, lack of proper nutriment would take it’s toll on her old, tired body and nature would call another sister home. She moved down off the hillside toward the noisy highway below. She often found scraps of food left in paper bags along this busy road. The cars would pass her by uncaring. She was scorned because of her age. She was just another old dog along the roadside. Had she been a young puppy; the story might have been different. Discarded puppies seem to strike a note of empathy with folks. The delightful, helpless little puppy along the road. How innocent! How sweet! Begging to be saved! But the old dog is viewed as more of a problem element. Just a stray. Just an old dog nearing the end of it’s life. It will probably be hit by a car. Probably is covered with fleas and ticks and lord knows what else. The old dog is not in the predicament it is in because of any desire on her part. She has been discarded by uncaring people. The same uncaring people who are driving by in their cars; who barely notice the old girl who is struggling on a daily basis to stay alive. Suddenly her muzzle raises and she sniffs the cold air, repeatedly making huffing sounds as she draws air through her nostrils. The smells are separated and disseminated and she arrives at the conclusion that there is food just ahead. She is a hound and her senses are rarely fooled. Her pace quickens and she soon arrives at a large building where people are entering and exiting. There is a crawl space under the building and she enters this area from the rear of the building. Garbage cans are sitting about and there are bits of table scraps lying on the ground beside them. She gobbles up the fare with zeal. There is not enough of the scraps to make a meal, but it is more than she has eaten in the past two days of scavenging along the roadway. The old hound turns to return to the crawlspace when she is startled to see a lady standing behind her. The dog did not hear the human approaching because she is nearly deaf. The vision caused the old hound to cower and step back a few steps. The lady threw down a few scraps for the dog. Bread, a piece of dough, cake and a pork chop bone devoid of any meat. The hound ate the scraps quickly. She tried to chew the bone but couldn’t. Her teeth were rotten and the nerves were exposed on three of her molars. Intense pain shot through her jaws as she tried and tried to crunch through the solid bone. Her natural instinct for survival compelled her to try again to eat the bone but the intense pain would not allow it. Her mouth in agony, she sought water to quench her thirst. She found a bucket that collected roof water sitting by a drain spout. The water was ice cold. She lapped up the liquid and the pain was renewed in her mouth. Her teeth would not allow her to even drink water in peace. Eventually, her rotten teeth would be her demise. It wouldn’t be long before she could not eat or drink. She stayed here, day after day, under the crawl space, eating the scraps and getting thinner and thinner. The small amount of food she was eating did not contain the elements to satisfy the needs of her body. It did, however, help stop the pain in her stomach due to emptiness. She was so thin that it appeared her ribs on one side would touch the ribs on her other side. It was predicted that the weather would turn extremely cold for the coming night. She might survive the first night in her crawl space., but in her undernourished condition survival would be doubtful if the temperatures stayed cold for a second night. And they would. She would have to maintain her life in twenty eight degrees temperature for the first night and eleven degrees the second night. As she sat near the building awaiting some scraps she noticed a couple of humans approaching her. What was this? Her alert buttons were pushed and she attempted to move away from them. She would be aloof. This has not happened before. Humans were actually taking notice of her.. She moved away further and crept back into her crawl space. The humans disappeared. They spoke softly to her and did not make any alarming gestures. They did not have food with them. Oh well. The old hound took up her position next to the building awaiting a morsel that might be discarded by some passerby. Then one of the humans came back outside and approached her. Soft words were spoken and she felt calmed. A cloth tether was placed around her neck and she was lead to a truck. The door opened and she was coaxed in. What was this? One thing for sure; she has not been this warm in weeks. Soon two humans returned and more kind word sounds were made and the old hound was calmed once more. Little did she know that her life would soon change drastically for the better. She would be saved from the agony of starvation. She would know comfort and peace. The old hound in the above piece has been named Julia. She lives here with me in this warehouse room. Julia has had veterinarian care and is doing fine. The old girl has had eight teeth removed, three of them with roots exposed . It had to be agony for her to drink cold water. Over the past few weeks, Julia has had the best soft foods and has regained much of her original weight. She has been transformed from an emaciated, starving dog to a dog who approaches me with her head held high and tail wagging. She will never know hardship again. It makes me feel good. No; Great! The clip below shows Julia now. She was in despicable condition when she was rescued.

COME ON SUMMER!

click on photo's to enlarge My first house in Tennessee in Cherokee Nat. Forest. It was a fixer upper and one of the biggest remodel challenges I have ever undertaken alone. Winter seems to be holding on a long time this year. Usually, here in Tennessee, there are a few 45 or 50 degree days that just seem to happen from time to time during the winter months. This year hasn't seen many of them. The much appreciated days off are spent inside playing with the computer or taking the dogs to the lake and woods and enduring the uncomfortable cold of the day. The dogs don't seem to care. But I don't like it. All my escape mechanisms are bundled up in shed or under tarp just waiting to carry me away to the wilderness and adventure, but the extreme cold dampens my enthusiasm. It seems, in winter, that unfortunate and difficult situations take on more negative connotations. Even the dogs, who are my best friends, try my patience with their canine antics. I find myself going out to the shed to look at the motorcycle or the canoe for a minute at a time. I just want to be out on or in them. All the social trials and tribulations, money, cost of dog feed, income, gas expenditures, food costs, ability to save and the economy, all seem more foreboding in the winter. It's as if those concerns are lessened by the heat of summer. I guess a guy could live under a bridge in the Summer if he had to a lot easier than in Winter. Things happen in the Summer. Motorcyclists are active, boats are on the lake and tourists are asking how to get places from here. Things are jumping. New life occurs in Spring and Summer, at least in my environment. But I am thankful for what I have and where I am. I am living life to its fullest, and that is determined by the individual's need's. My needs are not many. Some of my best friends are my dogs, here in Tennessee, and those people who share my love of them. I'll just wait it out, like everyone else. Spring will come soon just like every other year, and I will use every minute of the Spring and Summer months as if it was my last. One never knows; does one?

A FALLEN FRIEND

A few days ago a good friend lost his struggle with cancer. Watching him fight the unseen enemy was a heart breaking experience. People use the term fight; but in reality it is an uphill struggle to push back a blackness that is constantly trying to cover up life. The struggle is in trying to nourish the body with wholesome foods that will deliver the nutrients to the cells of the body to maintain strength, both physically and mentally, in order to push back the deadly malignancy that is attempting rob it of life. On one hand Perry would do his best to eat foods rich in nutrients. And at the same time he was being pumped full of chemo drugs that would be his main line of defense against the diabolical enemy. The war that raged within his body sickened him and presented him with challenges that I doubt any average person can comprehend; unless that person has fought a cancer war and won.

For awhile I visited him in the hospital, sometimes nightly. Then weekly. It was difficult to see my good friend weakened by his struggle. Each time as I headed toward the door to his room to leave; I would walk over to his bed and pick up his hand and lean close and tell him to "kick some cancer ass man." I said it low with a gruff growl voice. His eyes would flutter open and as he gently squeezed my hand, he would say "I am."

After a time he was able to go home. I felt good about this. I went over to see him at his sister's house one night on the motorcycle. He was half laying on a recliner against the wall of the room, eyes shut and breathing heavy. I was told he had had a bad day with the chemo. As I settled into a chair across the room I had a feeling that I can only describe as a "finality" about this whole affair. I looked over at him as his wife and sister were talking to me and I couldn't focus on their words. I caught enough of the conversation to be able to respond. But my real attention was on Perry. I stared at him and came to the personal realization that my suspicions were going to be proven true. The enemy was at the gates and the citadel would fall. I felt pressure behind my eyes and thought it best to leave. I arose and stepped over to his bed and picked his hand up. It was limp and lifeless; but moved enough to apply pressure to mine. His weary eyes opened and he looked strait at me. With a tear on my cheek; I said to him; "hang in there Perry." "I'll see you some other time my good friend." He said "I know" and squeezed my hand. I rushed out of the room with tears in my eyes; trying to keep my back to everyone. I knew Perry understood my meaning the way he squeezed my hand. I got on the bike and drove away. I never went back to see him. He understands. He knows.

He has joined his friends now; a host of other fallen hero's from another time. I am proud to have known him. I am a better person for it. I will never forget him and the friendship he has extended to me. "I'll see you some other time my good friend."

GOODBY TO A FRIEND

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE

A close friend and fellow employee has recently lost his struggle against cancer. We were close friends at work and we had a sort of mutual understanding about life. We both have military backgrounds and a great deal of what was learned from those experiences has been applied to our current lives, both on a personal level and on a business level in the form of ethics. When I moved to Tennessee I had only one friend in the state. I met a man on a boat dock shortly after and we became instant friends. I consider Paul, a TWRA Agency employee, to be a best friend and I'll always hold his friendship sacred. There is nothing I wouldn't do for him. When I left the agency to work at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson, I met a multitude of people I consider to be friends. The Harley owners and associated dealership comprise a pretty spectacular family that I am proud to be a part of. Then one day a guy walked into the store and I greeted him and received the usual "just looking" with a little statement attached to it, "got my bike wet." "We're gonna git some rain it looks like." Small talk lead to showing him a couple motorcycles and eventually the customer and I arrived at a mutual agreement on a trade in price and he bought a Harley Electraglide Ultra from me. The point of this is that we were instant friends from the handshake we shared when he walked in. I thoroughly enjoyed him. He was honest in his statements. There was nothing phoney about what he had to say. Ever since that day, he and I have been friends. Later he was employed by Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson and we worked together.