Day 151: Kayaking Fun

Sleep makes me happy. When I get enough of it anyway. This morning I woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. Someone, and I won't say who, was bouncing in the bed and making noise at three a.m. It woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. (Hint: it wasn't kitty, though the "ghost" tried to blame it on her). But I guess 'll let it slide this time. The "ghost" more than made up for it in the story below.

So tonight I will have my very, first, kayaking experience on Swedish waters. I signed up for a nybörjars kurs, or beginners class, back in April hoping that it would be warm enough by the time the class rolled around. What exactly is warm enough? For me it would mean balmy, eighty-degree, Fahrenheit temperatures, with a water temperature of about the same. In Sweden? Dream on, right? Now I'm just hoping it doesn't rain.

When I left my apartment this morning on my bicycle, it was a "balmy" forty-nine, degrees Fahrenheit. They say it should warm up to a high of sixty-degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon. And at the coldest it looks like it will get down to fifty degrees at the height of my class. Then I'll ride my bike home, though hopefully not wet! I will probably need a hot shower either way.

Lucky for me, and possibly the happiest thought for today however, is the fact that my wonderful husband is going to ride out to my class to meet me, wait while I learn how to paddle and then ride home with me. He must be the world's greatest husband, you are probably thinking. Well you are right!

Later on...

My kayaking course was a huge success. It didn't rain and none of us fell out of our kayaks into the water. I learned lots of great techniques and by the end I am pretty sure I reached professional status. Okay, maybe not really but I was definitely comfortable on the water and not terribly afraid of falling in, other than becoming colder. Yes, it was cold but I feel a sense of achievement. Two years ago, heck even one year ago I would never have taken a kayaking course with temperatures in the fifties. Guess I've become Swed-ish.

Having my husband there was a plus in several ways. My kayaking instructor loved his cargo bike, which scored me lots of points, he took some great photos of me in action and he kept me company and provided moral support on the ride home, when I was dead tired. Yay husband! Yay kayaking! And now, yay sleep! (Hopefully)

Here I go... forgot to mention that I saw a HUGE beaver on my way back in from our kayaking tour. It looked like a person in a beaver costume... Too bad I didn't get a photo!

In action...

Someone took a break on the way to meet me and found a pretty field...