Fair Haven Beach State Park

So Heather and I woke up rather late this morning. We were pretty fired up after the gig and were chatting till quite a bit after 4am with all the little details that happen on a typical Johnny Bender night out. The day looked to be a beautiful one so I had the idea of grabbing some beach gear, a couple subs and head up to Fair Haven for the day. I also had the plan of renting a canoe and teaching Heather all about it ( like I am some sort of expert? lol ).

So we got our stuff gathered, hit Wegmans and grabbed subs and were off. When we got there we found a great spot between the pond and the lake itself and had a great lunch. On the pond side I spotted a Herring hunting for fish in the water. Being the nature lover, I stalked over and snagged a couple great shots of him( or her ) feeding.

We baked ourselves in the sun for a while then decided it was time to go rent a canoe. We were assigned the number Four canoe. I guess that number isnt significant, but hey this is a memoir, so why not. So my canoeing experience is admittedly quite limited. I have probably only gone 3 times in my life. Having said that it slipped my mind which position was responsible for steering and which position provided the power. If I thought about it logically I would have known this, but getting to sleep at 4am prior my mind was a bit hazy. So I figured I would steer ( the hard part ) and Heather would just provide the power. I was wrong. The stern paddler provides the steering, the bow paddler provides the power.

So we got into the canoe when it was on shore and tried to move forward. Now if we had followed this 17 step guide on getting into a canoe we would have been fine. Instead we started moving our hips forward like someone was playing Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance" in the background. Im sure if I was the person renting the canoe to us, I would have taken a video and put it on youtube. So we get out there and prior to this I never told Heather what to do. She was holding the paddle somewhat like a sword or a banjo and it just wasnt working.

You see I believe I made her nervous. Prior to going out on the canoe I explained that canoeing had parallels to a relationship. They basically can make or break a relationship. In a very short amount of time while working together you can experience patience, forgiveness, anger, frustration and triumph among other emotions. You need to communicate on so many levels just to keep that dam thing in a straight line. So if you want to see if your relationship can stand the test of time, try canoeing together. I am happy to say that Heather and I didnt experience any of these emotions.

After showing her the correct method of holding the paddle along with the technique for steering we started gelling. We got into a great rythm and could actually make the boat go straight. It was very exciting to say the least. Yes sometimes simple things can be exciting. We had a great paddle around the pond and got to experience a swarm of dragonflies which Heather absolutely loved ( /sarcasm ). Im hoping I can get her out there again, and soon get ready for a true paddling adventure up in the Adirondacks.