More Trash Talk
Published March 18, 2010 | 
And the truck comes by on Friday, and carts it all away.
And a thousand trucks just like it are converging on the bay. Oh…..
Garbage, garbage, garbage….
We’re filling up our seas with garbage (garbage, garbage…)
What will we do when there’s no place left to put all the garbage (garbage, garbage……)
– sesame street
And speaking of disposable, I received an email from Tacoma, WA when reader from a paddleshop there read my post about Starbuck’s wasteful packaging at the Sheraton Hotel in Madison. Ken Campbell told me this pile (see the picture) came from a delivery of 30 mostly plastic kayaks. You can read his thoughts on waste here. You may notice the Necky logos, but we don’t mean to pick on Necky specifically. There’s plenty of trash to go around. The problem is getting more companies in our “green” industry to be green behind the shop as well as on the show floor. Continue reading
Contemplating Nature’s End
Published January 17, 2010 | 
Jack, do you never sleep — does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times, motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don’t think so —
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.
Tull
Today on my Skillet Creek Journal I’m contemplating nature’s end. Sometimes I when we ride the train we spend so much time involved in looking out the window, complaining about the food, and reading the newspaper that we never actually consider that the ride will soon end. I think this is why conservation is both a hopeless endeavor, and yet an important act of desperation. Sea kayakers are lucky in a sense. No matter how many humans we fill the land with there should always be oceans and wind to create waves. Even if all the sea life is long dead.
Posted in Commentary & Rants, Enviroment, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling | 
conservation, nature, wisconsinGo Slough
Published September 29, 2009 | 
So deep, so wide, will you take me on your back for a ride
If I should fall, would you swallow me deep inside
– gabriel
In yesterday’s post I mentioned stopping along the roadside to wrangle some apples only to end up cleaning up a bunch of trash. The photo above is from that very spot. What looks like a swamp in the image is part of a vast network of small streams, bogs and sloughs that make up the lower Wisconsin River valley. Somewhere out there past the swamp is the river proper.
Love is like a Rock
Published September 18, 2009 | 
You can’t depend on your teacher
You can’t depend on your preacher
You can’t depend on politicians
You can’t depend on superstitions
– donnie iris
So tomorrow I hop back in my kayak to paddle the Upper Dells of the Wisconsin River along with a group from Rutabaga. Well, that is if the new Jeep starts. It seems to be having one of those battery/alternator/starter issues that simply leave you confused and going nowhere fast. Story of my life! Right now it’s at the mechanics. She’ll hook up the computer and like roulette wheel on a Mississippi River Boat Casino, it will tell me which of the 3 options I’ve selected to experience. It can’t be the battery as I’ve already made that purchase. However if my little wheel of misfortune does happen to land on “Battery”, it will be met with a long list of expletives loosely translated as, “Spin Again!”…
Posted in Enviroment, Events & Symposia, Paddling, travel, Web Stuff | great lakes, wisconsin, wisconsin dells, wisconsin riverAny Colour You Like
Published September 13, 2009 | 
And now a road connects the cul-de-sac
To the adjacent development
But there used to be trees stretching back
And there was no way through
- Cymbals Eat Guitars
So a friend noticed by new black Kokatat MSFit.. I actually left it in the box for a few days before I opened it. I’m giddy as an 8 year old over it and so thankful Kokatat could make it happen. Ah, now the thing is who do I refer people to who want a black MSfit of their own? Sorry, but you knew that was gonna happen! (What with slippery slopes and all that…)
Posted in Enviroment, My Weird Life, Paddle Gear, Paddling, Quixotica, Web Stuff | kokatat, wisconsinBumble Bees & Kayaks
Published August 26, 2009 | 
Gardens and trash cans
Hoodie and Chuck-T’s
Arm,Fingers, and Hands
Don’t slow down
– Matt & Kim
Each of the last two days I’ve spent time out on the trails around the local park. As much as I might want to deny it the coming death of summer is as clear as the sound of screeching brakes on a highway. The more stressed of the forest trees are beginning to turn, the heat of the sun can’t quite chase the chill out of the mid-day air, the days of rain are beginning to outnumber the days of sun. My Ipod is filling with indie rock once again. It’s that time of year. Oh yeah, and P&H has some new kayaks on the way… I think I have another post about that.. Now let’s see here… what drawer did I put that post in!??
Busy day at Canoecopia. I’ll have more pictures for you tomorrow. Foolishly I took all today’s event photos in a format I can’t open on my laptop! (You can bet I’ve taken care of that now.) Well, with the couple hours I have available until the premiere of Justine Curgenven’s DVD, ” This is Canoeing“ I thought I’d take a moment to ask you to ponder this… Continue reading →