First paddle of 2016

The call of the wild is strong.

I’ve been working from home this week as we’ve decided to close our shared office space in Scranton.

Nice weather pulls me outdoors. When I’m working downtown, and the weather is above freezing, I am pulled towards going for a short jaunt to shoot photos of local buildings. But when I’m home and the sun is shining I’m pulled towards taking a short paddle.

On Tuesday, the sun was shining directly into my home office window and I was so distracted by it I threw a kayak on my roof and went for a short paddle at the nearest lake for about an hour.

The shape of this piece of ice reminds me of the shape of Ireland.

The ice floats on the lake were between an inch and five inches thick. As the ice floats were blown around the lake by the wind I ended up becoming an icebreaker at some points to get to where I was going. I felt like I was sailing the Fram.

How do I decide which kayak to take, you ask?

The Oru Kayak keeps me much warmer than the above Old Town because I can wear a skirt with it, it is far more narrow, and I sit lower in it. So typically when it is cold outside I’d take the Oru. However, I took the Old Town because it is much more stable and sturdy. The water temperature was just above freezing and I had no desire to tip in. I couldn’t tip the Old Town into the lake if I tried.

Each time my kayak would hit an ice float I thought of the Titanic. If only they hadn’t made that last second attempt to turn they would have likely lived.

What a great way to spend some time in the middle of the week! I was able to take two calls while I was paddling and I was away from my desk a total of two hours.

I plan on doing this a lot more this year than I did last year.