Tom Writes (Joe adds photos and editorial notes) . . . 

Monday, July 3, 2017

(Started north of Eaton Rapids, pulled out south of Lansing)

Columbia Creek entering the Grand in Eaton County, immediately north of the point where Curtice Rd terminates at Waverly Rd. Waverly constitutes the boundary between Eaton and Ingham Counties.

The theme for today’s paddle was Human Beings. We saw dozens of people paddling canoes and kayaks today, and we saw fisherpersons on both river banks. We did not see as many animals as usual, on our paddle days. We heard birds, but did not see them much. Joe says he saw big fish, says he wants to return to this stretch of the river, and catch those fish, and fry them, and eat them. I saw one biggish fish, but no hawks or eagles, or even butterflies today. I wonder whether the humans on the river might have chased away some of the wildlife.

Yes, lots of people on the river this holiday weekend. It could be like this throughout the warm season if Michigan kept its rivers cleared and encouraged their use.

When we encounter other humans on the river, my approach is to say, “Ahoy,” and to smile… Because, river paddlers usually have both hands on their paddles, and waving would be inconvenient. We usually get nice positive responses from the other humans.

A dragonfly lighted on Tom’s hand and stayed until he eventually shooed it away. Do kids still say that a dragonfly will “sew your mouth shut!”?

An example of nice humans: We pulled into the Riverbend Natural Area after four hours of paddling. The people who were fishing there helped us land, and helped us pull our boat up the steep bank to where we needed to load it onto Joe’s truck. They were not obligated in any way. They just were regular nice Michigan people.

Somebody out there, please help me with my blogging here. Please tell me how to attach graphics and photos and charts to my posts. I am old and not techy. I need help.  (Editor’s note: probably a lost cause, Tom just recently figured out Facetime after many false starts.)

This is the song we sang today. An interesting fact is that the song never appeared in the movie nor on its soundtrack.