Harold's Room

My son and best friend Sean.

Not much shade here.

Clark’s best friend Fred.

Some ugly old shit in a canoe he loved.

Oh my. The ugly old shit has a flask.

Yes, that is a catamaran sailboat on Loon Pit. Clark wants one because it looks like less work, but he’s too damned cheap to buy one.

But you can see why he would like to have one.

He does like to fish.

Lisa did better. Does she look surprised?

Now, does she look pleased?

And the next sequence is just the joy of being in a canoe on a nice lake with inlets and islands and gravel bars and birds and animals and…

 

This sequence is of three mink cavorting on the shore by Clark, and in the water five feet away from me.

And it’s supper time!

My middle son Ian and I went to Loon Pit yesterday. It was the first time just the two of us have paddled together, and we took Lisa’s Saranac 146 tandem canoe. It’s a neat little fourteen foot-six inch family knock around boat. It has bucket seats front and back, and a center bench for a third passenger with a storage box and a dry safe in it. She’s not fast, but quick enough with two paddling, turns and handles well, and stable as all get out. It’s just a great little boat to just fart around in, fish out of,  and whatever else you might care to do I reckon. They are relatively, inexpensive and very tough. The only drawback of the poly boats is the weight. She comes it at seventy-nine pounds dry weight. It takes two people to load and unload her, but given the price, durability and overall performance/stability for a boat that length that is thirty-six inches wide, it is well worth the effort and we’re glad we bought her. Now if Lisa’s hip replacement will just heal…

Loon pit is in Blue Grass Fish & Wildlife Area, which is old strip mine property. It is in the process of being rehabbed, and the larger lakes are very popular with fishermen, kayakers and paddle board enthusiasts.If you can read it, that should pretty much cover everything I know about Blue Grass. The only problem is that it is still in early recovery, so there are no large trees around the lake. That’s great if you’re a sun worshipper and want to paddle your board in your bikini or man thong, but for fishermen and casual paddlers in self-propelled craft like kayaks and canoes it can get a bit bright and hot out there. The best times for us are dawn to 10:00 AM, and around 4:00 PM to dark. And of course a paddle on a wide open lake like Loon under a full moon is just absolutely splendid. I have to run off for a bit now, but I’ll add some pictures from previous trips to Loon Pit when I get back so you can get an idea…

Man. This would be a great evening to spend at a Dave Matthews concert. It is beautiful out there. Unfortunately, Dave isn’t playing anywhere around here tonight, and my belly hurts anyway. Thank God for technology. Let’s just invite Dave and the band over.

Harold is a big DMB fan. He is diggin’ it. His favorite album is Live in Central Park, but he really likes Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, too.

Two of my sons, Sean and Ian, and my good friend Clark, took me to paddle at Hovey Lake for Fathers’ Day. It is a beautiful place. Last I heard it’s still the northernmost stand of cypress trees known in the US.I hadn’t been there in forty years. We had a great time. There’s just something about paddling around amongst the trees.And it’s shady and cool on a hot summer day. We were paddling and joking and laughing and listening to my little JBL Charge 3 waterproof speaker system having a grand time. (Sean helped me verify that the first one I had was indeed waterproof by dumping me out of my old Mohawk into Loon Pit last summer and sinking my boat. The JBL kept right on playing.) The boys and I were in canoes: I in the sixteen foot purple Columba solo that Benjamin at Nighthawk Canoes was kind enough to loan me until he gets my new Cygnus finished, Sean in his fourteen foot Mohawk Jensen solo like the one I used to have until recently,  which I bought for him when he was around six or seven, Ian in Clark’s little thirteen foot white boat he gave to Sean because he wanted something more stable, and Clark was perched on top of his highly modified blue sit-on-top kayak. Clark likes to be comfortable these days, and he likes to tinker. He really comes up with some good ideas.Clark was telling Ian how stable his kayak is, and how far he can lean in it without it capsizing. Drum-roll and accompaniment, please!

A gust of wind caught him broadside just as he demonstrated.He will never hear the end of it. We were out in the middle of the lake with no place for him to get out and get back on, so we helped stabilize his boat so he could crawl back up on it. We all shouted at him, “Makin’ memories, Clark! Makin’ memories!” The rest of the day went flawlessly, aside from the fact we found out Hovey is now home to the infamous Asian Flying Carp. They are a lot of fun to watch, but they can take your head right off. They are big fish. Fortunately we didn’t stir them up with our boats, but as we were headed back to the ramp we watched a pontoon boat headed in, and they were everywhere. They literally jumped over a fairly large craft. You’ve probably seen videos. At any rate, with them in there the fishing at Hovey has certainly declined. None of us had a strike all day. We didn’t really care. Mostly, we just like to goof off and paddle. And it is a beautiful place.Some days life doesn’t suck.

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Stripey Cat and the kittens are very, very happy the rain finally stopped. Now they can eat out in the open where there’s more room and they are more comfortable. It is supposed to be a beautiful day, and they are taking play breaks during breakfast as you can see. They are getting more and more used to me running in and out the door, which I am doing on purpose to try to get them accustomed to it in the hopes that I’ll be able to corral them in the extra large cat carrier I bought for that purpose and get them to The Humane Society. Lisa, Harold and I would really love to keep them, but having seven wild cats in the house doesn’t sound like it would fit very well with our current lifestyle. Harold can pretty much take care of himself when we’re not here, but the cats would be an entirely different matter. It’s coffee refill time! I also need to go get a bag of black oil sunflower seed out of the garage. The storage can on the patio is empty. Back in a bit I reckon.

It is Friday night. The sun has departed. Stripey Cat and the kittens are gathering. The raccoons have come in for supper. Harold has gone to his hut. Lisa is tired. It is time for

https://youtu.be/hXxITFYetcE

https://youtu.be/AfuQPnJ33ZI

Yup. Nice, slow, quiet rain. Dark. Moody. I “modified” the patio for Stripey Cat and her feral brood so they can get in out of it.

They spent the night under the table, but are now out roaming the woods. I expect them back if it starts to rain harder.

I only put half of a banana out for the turtles this morning. A nice gentleman ate one half yesterday morning, so I replaced it and was half a banana short today. Unfortunately a young lady showed up and was looking at the wrong plate. She then became fascinated with the stick people.

I went out in the rain and broke the banana into two quarters while she watched me, but then as I headed back for the door she vamoosed into the brush. Some do, some don’t, and some, like the one I call The Watcher, take off as soon as they see me come out the door. We’re all different, yes we are. Even Turtles. Back in a bit. I need more coffee.

I’m back with my nice, hot cup of coffee. Harold is roaming this morning. He loves it when it rains because it brings the other turtles out. He does like to have occasional lady “visitors” and watches for them through the floor level windows. The back door is standing wide open as it frequently does when it is cool, but Harold is not interested in escaping. He has grown quite fond of his five star turtle resort. The sun room is his. The whole room. No terrarium. No tub. This is his domain and he goes where he pleases. He is a big music fan, and his taste is impeccable. He has ways of letting me know if he approves or disapproves of my selections. We frequently put one of the playlists or the entire computer library on shuffle and let Ruby decide what we hear. More on Ruby later. Harold and I have been working on a book off and on for the past two years, appropriately named Harold’s Room. He told me that if I started a page I would be more inclined to write, and he never gives me bad advice. Harold is a very clever fellow. Need more coffee. I am addicted to it.

Stripey Cat (yes, I know it’s a dumb name) is back with the kids.

It is much drier under there, especially if you’re lying on a nice ventilated chair seat.

I have not had a dram of Jameson in several weeks, so I hauled my jubilant tail right down to the liquor store immediately after I figured out how to get Harold’s handsome self up on this page. My first successful attempt at “web page development.” Good thing I have Sean. At any rate, Harold and I would like to welcome you to Harold’s Room. He likes it. Harold’s mommy likes it. I like it. Hopefully, as time goes by, you’ll come to like it, too. I am about to pour myself a full Pig (more on the difference between a Pig and pigs later) of Jameson and sip a bit of ice water to celebrate. And I believe I will have a Newcastle in just about forty-five minutes. A momentous day for Harold and myself. We’ve been considering doing this for a while. Here we are, for what we’re worth. I’ll hopefully stay sober enough to add more in a bit. And to anyone who reads this, thanks for droppin’ by! You’re always welcome here! Unless you’re a nasty person, and you probably won’t like it here if you are.

 

More on  Pigs vs pigs:

One Pig

Two pigs

One pig

Lisa gave me the “Where Pigs Fly-Cincinnati” shot glass. I find it handy for measurements when tapering off in the evening.

An introduction to Harold has been added to my original post. I’ll get the hang of this. Sooner or later.

Well, Sean came by, and here we are. Day one. Nothing to say yet but FULL SPEED AHEAD! We hope. Please see below for an introduction to the owner of this room.

As this scaly little monster rises from the net. Ain’t he cute?

He’s here because of this:

Cracked plastron. More about Harold very, very soon. I promise. He is the smartest, coolest (antiquated term) turtle I have ever had the pleasure to know. He is my companion and very dear friend.