man & nature # 188 ~ incredible, simply incredible
Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 08:38PM 
F***ing amazing • click to embiggenI've been looking at this picture - made by the wife - for about 5 days now and I still can't entirely wrap my head around it.
Last Tuesday AM while we were all waiting for Rachael Ray, Hugo picked up a double blade (kayak) paddle that coma-girl had used the evening before to paddle out to the site in a solo canoe - she's not very adept (getting better) with a single blade in a canoe. Hugo started mimicking a double blade paddling stroke so I suggested that he should give it a try in a canoe - our 12 ft. solo boat.
He said "no". I pushed a little more and he still said "no". I suggested that I would hold on to the canoe in very shallow water and, after careful consideration, he said, somewhat reluctantly, "ok".
I put a low folding camping chair over the canoe sea to elevate him just a bit, lifted him into the canoe, grabbed the back of the canoe, and he started to paddle. Within a few feet he was off on his own - straight as an arrow, turning when needed and even reverse-stroking to turn around.
About a half-a-dozen onlookers - including one of Placid Boatwork boat builders - stood on the shore in rather stunned and amazed incredulousness - keep in mind that Hugo is 4 going-on-5 years old. No instruction other than a few days in the front of a canoe with a single blade.
It was simply amazing. No fear, no second thoughts - he just headed for open water and was on his way.
Keep in mind when viewing this picture, the canoe is a mere 12 ft. long - that little figure doing the paddling is truly little.
FYI, the wife made the picture while I was in hot pursuit. Just when she has started to get the hang of manual exposure, she got fooled by a very high-key scene. I had to rescue the exposure in RAW processing as well as a bit of PS work. Nevertheless, kudos to the wife for a wonderfully memorable picture.
Reader Comments (2)
As a parent this story brought a huge grin to my face reminding me of my own "f***ing amazing" moments with my kids. Thanks.
Wonderful :-)
Has Hugo got a camera yet? looking forward to his pov