Reflections on the Ninth Week of Summer

 

Late Thursday afternoon, with the phone cradled to his ear, Spence said, “Oh, you saw it already.” I guessed he'd placed an ad in Area Shopper for our five year old canoe. His purchase of the canoe had also been a surprise. I drove home one evening to find the red, Pelican Potomac, 14.6 foot, three seater canoe sticking over the end of his Chevy Colorado.

      We'd enjoyed many paddles on Lake Wilhelm–basking in sunshine, photographing birds, and rescuing a rowboat stuck on a snag. More challenging was our only trip on French Creek–portaging a sandbar, zipping through mini rapids, and disembarking on a high, slippery mud bank. But, as Spence explained to the caller, “We're getting older. The canoe is too heavy for us.”

      We had three more inquiries by the time Joe and his fiancée Mandy arrived Friday evening. They picked up the canoe, flipped it over, and slid it on top of his closed bed truck as if the canoe were a sheet of Styrofoam. We wished the young couple many happy adventures and waved goodbye as the canoe disappeared around a bend in the country road.

      Spence's second media success was passing his writing audition. Nonprofit Quarterly accepted him as a volunteer national housing writer. In morning sunlight on the deck, I took his headshot photo for the magazine's website. http://nonprofitquarterly.org/