Today Amy, Dusty and myself went with a friend and her 2 kids canoeing down the Blue River in Indiana. 7 miles of peaceful river. Man oh man...it was a lot of fun!

Plus I got to see and catch my first softshell turtle!

And we believe this because? It sounds like an amazing way to spend the day, but without seeing any pictures? Is this just a summer time fantasy, John?

Are y'all gonna eat the turtle? OK, that's assuming this whole story is true.

Plus I got to see and catch my first softshell turtle!

HuH ? what kind of lure you used ?

Anyway , sounds like a nice time

I didn't take my camera, unfortunately.

My hands. It was a smaller one

Unfortunately? Maybe, maybe not. We got to where we just don't take ours, as often as not. It's really liberating and makes for a hands free experience. And chances are pretty good somebody else took some great pics, and chances are they'll share.

And if you'd had the camera, you probably would've just shot that turtle instead of catching him. Not nearly as much fun. Well, OK for you, not the turtle.

i got my family into kayaking this summer after canoeing last summer. i can't wait for the weekends now as it's a fun adventure that's hard to beat.

but the turtle story reminds me of a childhood memory that is probably not worth sharing, but i'll do it anyway. i was with my stepfather back at his parent's house in rural Arkansas one summer living up the great outdoors. his brother is a commercial fisherman on the Arkansas river. so we went out to check the nets with him. one way or another a beaver had got tangled in the net, but broke free as we were pulling the net in. they dropped everything and started chasing this beaver to the shore. the beaver went on shore and they jumped out of the boat and whacked the beaver over the head with the anchor. he was stunned (or dead) and they grabbed it by the tail and started smashing it against the rocks. i guess they get tired of the beavers chewing through the expensive nets. but i thought it was a bit excessive to pound him around over and over (i suspect it was for effect). and then they threw the dead beaver next to me in the fishing boat and headed back to the nets. that's when i decided that i'd find another line of work. ;~)