I sense that I'm one of 10 people in the world who got into a canoe accident this weekend. Seriously. Have you ever seen how slowly those things go? Nonetheless my husband managed to steer me into a hanging branch, and not a small one. (In his defense, we were at a wind-y place and he hasn't been in a canoe for a couple of years. There was a little bit too much velocity happening as he executed the turn. Also, I suppose, I could have ducked. Or so they tell me.)
My extremely pricey (IMO) sunglasses, which I treat with such care, were flung from my head, along with my hat (but into the boat rather than the water, thankfully) after being scratched to shit by said branch. I'm of the opinion that the glasses saved my eye. Others think I may have merely saved myself a scratched cornea. Either way, that would not have been a good scene. The branch bounced of the glasses, while it tossed them, and grazed the side of my face instead.
Oh, and then the heavens opened and I spent an hour canoeing in the relentless, pouring, miserable, cold, disgusting rain from which I could not flee. I was fit to be tied.
At any rate, this is my second canoe experience this summer (after a hiatus of many years, and I'm no "girl with a canoe") and I can't figure out which one was worse. In NC, I went on the New River, apparently the second oldest river in the world, and a 4-hour trip ended up taking 6 hours as the water was 6 inches deep in most spots and littered with jutting rocks. Also, extreme natural beauty aside, we had to somehow get around the water-hogs in inner-tubes who were drinking beer and very rudely staying in the middle of everything, despite not really needing water just to sit there and get drunk. That was the trip where I learned about how exercise can truly be an act of desperation. I knew I was never going to get out of that fucking river if I didn't paddle.
This weekend's experience taught me something concrete about my nature: I am very attached to my things. Sure, not all things. (Lord knows, I give away sweaters like they're growing on trees.) And, sure, I cling to some things more than others. But I was so angry about the destruction of my glasses. The combo of my love of beautiful objets (that also manage to be entirely practical and useful) with my hatred of disorder and waste, well, it brought out my less-than-endearing side. Of course, my friends worked to calm me, weirdly, by suggesting that I need a frame, slightly more a la mode. Smart. That's about the only thing that stopped me from complete anger-wallow. The option to self-improve.
So I'm off to Spectacle to buy a new pair. (Re: Light sensitivity these days, I cannot be without my wrecked up current glasses until new glasses are ready, whereupon I'll get the current ones fixed so as never to be in this situation again.) If only this weren't about to cost a boat load of money... (hahahaha, get it?)
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I didn't like the idea of canoes before but you've really put me off now, lol! I feel your pain about the sunglasses. I get that way about my precious possessions too...
ReplyDeleteEveryone else loves them! Don't let me put you off!
DeleteSo glad your eye was spared. Take care!
ReplyDeleteThanks Faye!
DeleteI'm glad you survived the canoe incident. It will probably become a famous life event. At least it didn't tip over near a gator - BTDT.
ReplyDeleteOh, way to put it in perspective Mary! :-)
DeleteOh no! This doesn't sound fun at all. :-( And I hear you on the sunglasses. I wear mine even when it's cloudy (unless it's one of those black cloudy days, obv.). I hope you find a new pair that's even cuter than the old ones. And I'm super glad you are OK.
ReplyDeleteI did find a new pair and I'll blog about them soon. Still, I'm glad the original pair is repairable.
DeleteGrowing up in Nova Scotia, my parents packed me off to a lakeside summer camp every year. They got a holiday from me, but I hated it- especially the canoes arrggghhh!
ReplyDeleteI think my kid has a similar story, strangely :-)
DeleteohmyLORD. what a story! i am glad you are ok! and i am glad that i now have a reason to avoid canoeing at all costs! lol
ReplyDeleteIn truth, I'm not the hardiest outdoor person. You're probably safe.
DeleteOh that sounds painful! I can relate to your frustration. Glad you're ok!
ReplyDeleteIt was more frustrating than painful, thankfully.
DeleteI get quite attached to some things as well but to the extreme of locking them away and never wearing/ using them.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're ok, I've never been in a canoe but they do sound exciting.
Oh, that's an interesting take on the object-attachment! I do haul it all out - I figure, if you don't use things you might as well not have them. And then this kind of thing happens :-) In truth, it's the first time I've wrecked my glasses, possibly, ever. So those aren't terrible odds.
DeleteSo you're not taking up whitewater kayaking any time soon, are you?
ReplyDeleteHope your new glasses are cute enough to let you put the trauma behind you!
ABSOLUTELY NOT! I think the new ones are pretty cute. Kind of movie-star. :-)
DeleteWhile I am glad the glasses saved your eyes, I'd be upset too. I've had glasses since grade 7 (the D+ in math tipped my parents off that perhaps I was not seeing the black board). I have never had contacts and glasses are honestly part of how I see myself. Pictures without them look kinda weird to me. As much as I like having the opportunity to change my look with glasses, it's a process and when you find a pair you love, I understand the level of attachment you have to them. I look forward to seeing the new pair.
ReplyDeleteMe too! Well, I can't really blame my math marks on bad vision. I think there were other factors :-) I can't wear contacts, my eyes are too dry. SO I always wear glasses and feel weird without them. Do you have blue or light-coloured eyes? Apparently, light eyes are more photosensitive.
DeleteYou know when I got my glasses, my parents found that my notes still didn't make sense. I don't think it was all my eye sight to blame either, I mean, all my other marks were okay.
DeleteMy eyes are mostly green but they do have a ring of orange/brown around the pupil so it's not a solid green. My mom has two different colour eyes because of medication she took years ago removing the colour from her eye. So that eye is blue and the other is a light brown/hazel colour.
Ooh, weird to have one's eyes change due to medication. Were her eyes both hazel to begin with?
DeleteYep. I should ask her again what it was that did that. I think it was from the first time she had iritis.
DeleteSorry you lost the glasses, but glad you got away with scratches and not a bigger injury. I was canoeing a few years ago with my husband and dog. We were in a lake with a few others, canoeing to a BBQ. The dog saw another dog and put his feet on the side of the boat and tipped us over. We were not exactly in the middle of the lake, but it was a bit awkward getting boat, stuff, and dog to the shore. The thing about tipping over is that you are in the water for a few seconds before you really understand that you are there and how you got there. It hasn't put me off canoeing, just doing it with that dog.
ReplyDeleteI know! Scott has decided to stop indulging my dramatic tale. He feels that I had an incident, not an accident, and I should just suck it up and move on. I can see his point. And, on the topic of canoeing with a dog, I will never try that! Even a cute one.
DeleteOh good grief! Maybe the universe is trying to send you a message about canoeing? Glad you were mostly unscathed.
ReplyDeleteI hear you with the sunglasses. My expensive-for-me ones that I wear year round just got scratched. Sigh.
I'm starting to feel that way. Fortunately, I much prefer sitting poolside :-) Sorry you have scratched your lenses. I feel your pain!
DeleteI'm with Clio on this one! So glad you're ok and so glad I prefer less energetic pursuits...even if my arse wishes I didn't ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut you can't see your ass when you're sitting on it so it's all good! :-)
DeleteOh no! Hope you're OK.
ReplyDeleteI went kayaking down the Hudson River a few months ago, and it was a lot of fun. Thankfully it didn't rain.
It's all good, thankfully. I bet the Hudson would be gorgeous to kayak down. (Note to self: Do not get sucked in by great sounding rivers!)
Delete