September 20, 2004 - Monday
Harry's really enjoying the new canoe. Today we went out again, but on a much smaller river, the Nissitissit, with trees leaning out over us and crystal clear water beneath. There's no white water on the Nissitissit, at least not were we were, but there was enough of a current to move the canoe without paddling and for Harry to refer to areas where the flow ran over groups of rocks or sticks as "waterfalls." We started heading upstream first so I could be sure I could maneuver the canoe solo against the current, but we didn't get around more than a few bends before reaching a place that was impassable due to rocks and sticks. So, we turned around and went downstream passed our car. Indeed, we ended up going much farther than I would have thought we would or perhaps should. But, the boys were in a good mood, save Jeremy asking every now and then if we could "take the canoe home now?" I think he's still a little worried about the snapping turtle we saw. I even had Jeremy switch places with Harry so he could sit on the front seat, although that didn't really stop him from asking whether we were ready to go home. But, there were little schools of fish in the clear water and the river was also small enough so the boys could play with their paddles in the water and that seemed to keep Jeremy interested. There were also places in the river that were narrow enough, maneuvering through fallen trees mostly, to required my careful attention and to demand their paddles out of the water. Thankfully, they seemed to be learning quickly about canoing and understood that, or at least were well enough behaved to listen. Harry even helped paddle, with surprisingly efficiency, on the section heading back to the car where the current was fastest. After we finished we took a little walk down beside the river where we'd been so the boys could be boys and throw sticks into the water.


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