There’s a big black bear he’s a huff-puff-a-puffin’
His coat’s too heavy he’s a huff-puff-a-puffin’
Don’t get too near the huff-puff-a-puffin’
Or you won’t stay all day! -peter, paul, mary Hey, anytime you can use the word “Puffin” you’ve got to take it. Puffins just make life worth living don’t you think?

So on May 11th of this year, three guys called Harry, Barry, & Phil started paddling around Great Britain. Not that it needs to be any cooler but what I’ve found really interesting is how they are using the trip to improve students knowledge of health and nutrition as well as inspire them to get some much needed (these days) exercise. Participating school students will are walking 6 miles around their playgrounds in 1 mile sections and then keeping log books. Then they get cool stickers to put in the book as they succeed. (they get fruit snacks too, but If I were a kid I’d think, “Big deal, gimmie candy. . or money) At the same time the kids are able to follow along with the kayaking team’s reports which will focus on nutrition, Diet, Coastal Geography, wildlife and more. Upon completing of their 6 mile sessions the kids then go to a local Kayak Center and work on achieving a BCU 1 Star proficiency award. Wouldn’t it be cool to be a kid there? You can follow along with the ExpedSchools Group Here. Oh, and mind the Puffins!Next two little items came to me in a dream. . . Well, no. They just sort of sat there waiting for me to react.

The first is this, ”

KAYAK FISH BAG“. Ever see one of those inventions that you know are a really a good idea, but still they sound so weird you’d be embarrassed to ask for one? I can’t imagine anything else in kayaking that screams out the name Ron Popeil, than a Kayak Fish Bag! Well, I don’t fish anyway but if I did I’d want one of these kayak fish bags! Hmm, maybe I could put tofu in there instead.So I was very happy that Ginni C. over at

Columbia River Kayaking linked my site. But one thing keeps jumping out at me. . . KAYAKER’S POOP TUBE. . . kayakwisconsin/kayak poop tube. . . .I will never again be able to think about my website without thinking about Poop Tubes. Sometimes the imagery is just too awful! But on the bright side, (insert here, “The doll is cursed.”, “That’s bad.”, “But it comes with a free Frogurt.”, That’s Good!”.) this is a funky little way to manage human waste on a kayak trip. . So check it out here.Here’s a shocker. . . Justine used the word “Bitches” in

her blog!! Oh, wait. . . now I said it too! arggggh!I’m still a little put off that

Motorola has not contacted me about my new phone. Oh well. I tried. Ok, so with a Fish bag on my deck and a poop tube behind my seat, I think I’ll set a course for that nearby puffin rookery and call it a day. . . maybe I’ll take that veg-o-matic over there. . . hmmm, and maybe just one piece of fruit. . .. . . Later. . .

* the puffin pic came from the

Project Puffin website. They get the credit for that one!

The sea is too far away.
Something has to change. I miss the surf. I miss the swell. Oh, yes and chewy bull kelp I miss you too.
I miss the sea.
Something has to change. . .

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So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure,
how amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space,
because there’s bugger all down here on Earth. – eric idle

So those of you who speak “geek” like me probobly already know that “Bablefish” came from “Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy” long before Alta-Vista scammed it for their translation service. So if you don’t speak geek you had better load up your ears with them (the fish, not alta-vista staffers).

So now that we’ve all got space fish firmly lodged in our ears I can tell you of my 2 days of computer horror. I got a Trojan. (and me without a date!) It was hiding in my temporary internet files. But I could not delete them without going into safe-mode first. This is because I had to be the administrator and not me to see the actual files. So I did that. Yes, I did shut off my system restore first by the way. Then when I returned to “less-safe” mode my virus scan found it again. But this time in a folder called C:\Recycler. C:\Recycler is meant, I think, to protect you from yourself by archiving stuff you have already deleted. Either that of it’s a gift to the FBI, IRS and other invasive picture post cards. So, now I’m deleting them. If you understood this post so far you are certainly walking on the edge of geekdom.I worked on my presentation a bit last night. I’ve known what and where I was going with it for some time, but not exactly how to travel the linier path from start to finish. All I know for sure is that the Mad Hatter says, “When you get to the finish, Stop”. And speaking of finish or in this case Finnish, we got a phone call from a family friend in Finland last night around 3am. Actually, she didn’t intend to call, but her phone was in her pocket and she auto-dialed us. That leads to a conversation like;

“Ah, who’s this?”,
“Who’s THIS?”,
“oh, it’s you”,
“Why are you calling me?”
“I didn’t call you, you called me.”
“I did?”
“I think so. I am pretty sure I was sleeping and the phone rang. I tripped over something, found the light and turned it on. Of course I was blind then, but I felt my way for the phone and when I picked it up I heard someone breathing. Then you asked, “Who’s This?” And I said “Who’s THIS?”, and then you said, … well, anyway I’m sure you called me.”

Next thing you know you’re digging out the instant coffee and longing back for the days when you smoked. .

Now what was I on about anyway?? Oh, the presentation! Yikes, So being that I’m into photography as you can tell from my site, I knew pretty far in advance what pictures to use. But then you need to add information. What? I have to say something? I can’t just sit in a dark corner and click pictures of kayakers in grey seas to the rhythmic sounds of Radio Head? Oh, man. What do you say about kayaking in Wisconsin anyway? Sure I can go on about how much I personally love the sport. I can try to put into words the beauty of the many lakes and shores, the sounds of the wild life, or the smell of dead fish that exudes from many lake Michigan boat landings. I could put on the “high-brow” Sea Kayaker persona and talk about the expertise and knowledge needed to head out into the dark murky. But, I would have to act. How little I know of the dark murky sea. In the end I think some pictures and little adventures will have to fill the night air. Maybe a fact or two and a reference to friends. One thing I do know; formality has never had much use in anything I do. So at least I know I don’t have to buy a suit!

I’m still on my quest for a BCU certification before winter. I actually got a hold of the mid-west assessor and now if we can just get within a couple hundred miles of each other maybe this will work.

With BCU assessments in mind, I flipped out an email to Ginni Callahan of Columbia River Kayaking to congratulate her on achieving her BCU 5 star award in May. (You can see I’m often a day late!!) Wow. I know people often cross a lot of lines on the path to a 5 star award or any goal for that matter. How many folks do you see posting around the web why they dropped out or decided it was not worth it? It’s very true that sticking it through and taking the time to master the skills is tough in whatever you do. Often it’s easy to feel that you have reached a proficient level and need not go any further, and that’s often true as well. But for some folks only the mountain peak is truly satisfying. Even if the view is almost the same on the ledge below.

Personally I get very excited to see someone keep pushing. As kayakers we can always understand at some level the work involved in achieving the 5 star or ACA advanced open water award. When we have the opportunity (as email makes it so easy to do) to recognize someone for their achievement let’s take it. Wouldn’t it be cool if when you had a personal success suddenly you got a couple hundred emails from all over the world to congratulate you on your efforts? Well, let’s see what we can do to get a trend started. If you want to see more about what a 5 star assessment is like just check out Ginni’s blog at http://kayaktravel.blogspot.com/. Read her post, “Survived, Anglesey Sea Kayak Symposium”. In addition to her blog you should go to her “Pix-N-Tales” page for all sorts of interesting stuff. Even a couple of interesting poems.

Very cool.

I read the news today oh, boy – j. lennon

So, I just read in the paper today that there was a “Kayak Expert” speaking at Mirror Lake State Park this Saturday evening at 9pm. I may have to go. . . or I should say “I” may have to go, since I’m doing the presentation. And since it’s now just 4 days away I really have to get cracking. I sure hope that Kayak Expert shows up. I could really use the help!Cheers!

So. . . I sent in my $70 to the BCU (British Canoe Union) early this spring with the thought that if I was going to do a cross-certification in Washburn I’d have that out of the way. As it turned out the cross-certification was canceled and I’m still trying to figure out how to do it this year. KB where are you!!?? The consolation is that a couple days ago I got my membership package all the way from Nottingham and what, but too my surprise, I got a FREE BCU PEN! I know what you’re thinking. . .YES, it does float but not for long. It could certainly use some air-tight hatches. But’s it’s sporty. My BCU pen does do a mean roll with little assistance in calm bathtub water. I have not had it in surf yet, but my expectations are high.

Now I wonder if it writes well. . . I’ll try that out later.

I want the anticipation to last!

-dm