July 19, 2010 - Monday | 7:40 PM, CST

I went to Turkey Run this past weekend with the Nicklers for their annual canoe trip on Sugar Creek. I've been going every year, except one, since they first invited me around 2001 or so. Its actually something I look forward to quite a bit throughout the year, and I always set aside some vacation time to be able to attend.

Next year, I believe I’ll see about staying at the in-laws’ place on Raccoon Lake for the weekend so I can make it a multi-day event. This year I drove down on both Friday and Saturday. I should have just stayed the night… but without spare clothes and toiletries I wasn’t comfortable crashing on the proffered air mattress. Plus, I sleep best when I’ve got my girls cuddled up against me (i.e. wife and dog). Its just too much fun to spend one day on the water, and by leaving early I’ve been missing out on hanging out and visiting.

Anyway, on Friday we went on an eleven mile trip. There were twelve of us, ten of which were in canoes, two of us (including myself) in kayaks. The water was still up a few feet higher than its normal level for this time of year, so it made for some swift-moving, fun (read: dangerous) currents. One sticky situation arose when someone’s canoe hit an SUV-sized boulder in about four feet of fast-moving water. The canoe hit the boulder broadside, and was wedged underneath the rock below the surface by the force of the current. It took Nickler and I about ten minutes trying to first get to the canoe, and then standing in the water to free it while not getting swept away. I lost my footing once and it took me several minutes to try to get back to the rock. We named the place "Dildo Rock" in honor of the event.

Saturday had me driving back for another day of fun. I still chose a kayak, but nearly everyone else chose an inner tube. We took a three mile course, which lasted almost as long as Friday’s trip since we were on a more gentle area of the creek and drifted with the current. When we set off, I saw two young women in a canoe near our group. One was dressed normally in a bikini, but the other had on some sort of strange Kermit-the-Frog green jumpsuit. It had a pair of pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a hem about halfway to the knees, and an attached hood that only showed the face from about the eyebrows to the chin. The front of the sweatshirt had some bright yellow writing on the front that, from my vantage, seemed to be Japanese or Chinese.

At first I thought it was some idiot in a sort of anime costume that was just trying to be cute. The rest of the guys in the group must have thought so as well because they began to call out and spray her with a squirt gun. Only after some continued taunting did someone point out that "Hey… isn’t that one of those Muslim bathing suits?"

Whoops.

Sure enough, I googled it when I got home and confirmed our suspicions. Turns out, they’re called burkinis. Check them out. (Hijab Girl   "The Lowest Price Hijab Store, If you see the same hijab for less online, within the USA, we will refund the difference plus give you an additional 10% off." [You can’t beat those deals folks! Order today!] I’m sure you’ll be dying to see your woman wearing one.

Pun intended!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy.

Image 1:  Nickler ready for some whiffle-ball action.

Image 2:  A post-river Amber being a good woman and preparing a meal.

Image 3:  Nickler and me under the covered bridge on Narrows road.

Image 4:  The sunset on the way home.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, as time and circumstances have been more permitting. I’ve always had a soft spot for science fiction and fantasy, and to this day J.R.R. Tolkien remains my favorite author. Lately, however, I’ve attempted to broaden my literary experiences with a wider range of classics and well-known authors.

I’ve recently read Martin Eden by Jack London, and Don Quixote by Cervantes. I got Don Quixote from a library sale. It had been a book report book for SHS English. I’m kind of surprised there isn’t a popular uproar among the politically incorrect over quotes such as this:

As for Sancho, who trudged along on foot, he felt again the aching grief for the loss of Dapple, but he bore it cheerfully, reflecting that his master was on the way to marry a princess, and so become at least King of Micomicon; though he was sorry to think that country was populated by negroes, and that when he became a ruler his vassals would be black. Then the remembering a special remedy, he said to himself: "What care I if my subjects be blacks? What have I to do but ship them off to Spain, where I may sell them for ready money with which I may buy some title or office, on which I may live at ease all the days of my life? No! I might as well go to sleep like a blockhead if I have not the gumption to sell thirty thousand niggers in the twinkle of an eye! By God! I’ll make them fly, little and big: even if they’re blacker nor coal I’ll turn them into white and yellow boys with the true ring out of them. Come on, all of you: I’m licking my fingers already."

Oddly enough, most older classics are sprinkled with lines such as these.

Awhile back, Mom got me a stack of used Kurt Vonnegut books that I’ve enjoyed immensely. They’ve typically become my "go-to" books when I don’t have one I’ve planned to read. I must admit that I don’t care for many of his hidden messages, but damn, the man can write!

While we were down at Turkey Run, we went to a small Amish antique store (in a barn with no electricity) and I found an old copy of Ben Franklin’s autobiography. I hadn’t noticed when I bought the book, but it contained a short letter, which I’ll transcribe below:

We are happy to announce that Jim will be graduated from Northern Illinois University on May 10, 1975. He will receive a doctor’s degree majoring in Educational Psychology. Next year he plans to continue teaching psychology courses at De Kalb High School. He is presently teaching graduate courses at Roosevelt University in Chicago. To celebrate his completion we are planning a four-week Mediterranean cruise during July and August with the history department of Western Michigan University.

Pretty neat. The letter is postmarked April 21, 1975 from De Kalb, IL. It was mailed to Brazil, IN. I intend on looking up the recipient and mailing it to them.

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