Greenfield Park Lake Cruise
Fairly late Sunday afternoon, August 3, Janet and Bob took a casual cruise around Greenfield Park Lake. We purposefully came here, where there is no tide, no current and little wind, because several of our trips in the last couple months saw us battling difficult conditions. Unlike all trips to Greenfield, we say no alligators and only a few turtles. We did see several water birds hunting game fish.
While waiting for my new Greenland paddle to arrive in the mail, I had been on a couple recent trips using a Euro blade. Today, I used the new paddle and for about 15 seconds it felt strange, without enough resistance to the blade pulling through the water. Then I dipped it deeper, and the feeling was mellow, smooth and good.
Today’s excursion was our fourth trip to this lake since Janet and I began paddling together a couple years ago. We have never been all the way around it. Our plan today was to circumnavigate the lake, both to learn the layout of the bays, inlets, and trees; and to get more exercise. But the best laid plans sometimes go astray.
A third of the way around the lake, my abdomen was suddenly hit with a sharp, deep pain. I had experienced this kind of pain a couple times this year. It meant a fast paddle back to the put-in / take-out, a leap out of my boat abandoned on the ramp, a sprint across the parking lot and driving over the speed limit around the park to the bathhouse. I made it to the Men’s room with two seconds to spare.
Janet stayed on the water until I returned, and played around among the Spanish moss draped cypress trees. I elected not to go back on the water, so we packed up the equipment. Back at home, I felt well enough to clean the boats and hang the gear to dry.
