Tag: kayak

A Concert Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I attended my first concert in a kayak last week.

I swear the fluid pooling in the kayak is from the river and not the inevitable result of a long concert. I was part of a floatilla of freeloaders who watched John Fogerty play his hits from his Creedence Clearwater Revival days and his solo career, like this one.

It was a beautiful night to see a concert for free and save 60 bucks, but it led me to consider this ethical conundrum.

When I saw Fogerty was coming to the area to play a venue just 20 minutes away, I knew I would be seeing him. I loved CCR as a young lad. This was the first tour by Fogerty in decades after recently regaining control of his CCR songs. He was visibly joyful to play his CCR hits again. So, shouldn’t I have supported his tour and bought a ticket? Instead, I kayaked offshore and stole a seat to the show.

Am I a bad guy?

Back to the Beach … sort of

~ Jim Flanigan

Are you ready for a meandering post with lots of links that will eventually take you all the way to Chicago for a nice surprise? Well, read on then.

When I got in my car yesterday, I was pleased to see sand on the passenger seat. That may not make sense to most folks, but I live for being in and around water. People look at me funny when I tell them that I feel more comfortable being in water than on land. Of course, they normally look at me funny even when I don’t say anything. Science teaches us that our evolutionary ancestors crawled from the oceans. Well, I would like to crawl back.

Anyway, that sand came from a Boxing Day (Dec 26th) kayak excursion. I carry my kayak in my vehicle, so the sand must have come off the bottom of the craft. It was a grey, chilly, wet day, and I loved every moment on the water. Seeing the sand made me smile as I recalled my first kayak of the winter season. Maybe another one later today?

After swimming outdoors in my illegal swimming hole all the way into early October, my plan was to start legally swimming indoors in November. Well, COVID had other plans for me, but I finally made it back to the pool in December. It felt odd after 2+ months off, and I looked a bit ungainly in the water. How do I know I looked ungainly? Well, the lifeguards that were training at the other side of the pool kept coming over to “rescue” me every time I swam a lap. Despite that, I surprised myself and made 0.40 miles. Not bad for my first indoor winter swim.

Now Chicago offers me a unique way to enjoy the water outdoors all winter long.

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Pool Withdrawal

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Normally at this time of the year, I am loving our little backyard pool. Typically it would have been up for over a week, and the water will be cool but crystal clear. This year, the pool is gone, replaced by grass seed and the hope that the seeds sprout.

I’m already missing my June pool. If I can stick it out another month, I’ll be fine. By July, I am usually in an epic battle with algae, killing it with chemicals, and then having to vacuum out the dead algae. By August, I feel waterlogged and stop caring how clean the pool is, content to swim in filth out of habit. And once September hits, I am always eager to tear it down. But for now, I’m missing it.

My plan was to swim outdoors in rivers, lakes, and ponds this summer, some legally and some not. I have to admit that it was disappointing that my first outdoor swim of the season was here.

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No Shower Summer!

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

3 days now without a shower. I am shooting for a zero shower summer. There is no need for me to shower this summer, because we have this …

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