A boy and a girl in a little canoe...

Thus began a favorite camp song, from back when I would bravely trundle off to some mountainous spot, duffel and schedule in hand, to sing, do crafts and shoot bows and arrows and give my parents a brief respite. It went like this:

There's a boy and a girl in a little canoe
With the moon shinin' all around
And as they paddled their paddles
You couldn't even hear a sound
So they talked and they talked
'Til the moon grew dim
Then the girl said "You gotta kiss me...
Or get out and swim."
So what'cha gonna do in a little canoe?
With the moon shinin' all-
And boys swimmin' all-
Girls paddlin' all around?

Little did I know that I was being indoctrinated with feminist free-love ideals at 4-H camp, but there is lyrical evidence, my friends. Anyway, I was a fan of the song, and have had multiple occasions lately to whistle, hum or belt it out loud to the world at large. My father kindly gave us the use of his canoe, a bright yellow vessel that he used to take to the rivers with. After a father and son-in-law bonding trip to ostensibly fish (aka drink beer and tell tall tales), Chris brought it home. Then we brought it to Wilmington. And then back north for my family reunion week in the wilds of western Maryland. Then back to Wilmington. It has seen much more time on the roof of the car than in the water, but we have put it to use.

Insert alligator here.

In swampy, alligator infested waters. No, really.

Although I don't currently have photographic evidence of said alligator, due to the fact that we used (gasp!) film in the taking of their reptilian portraits, I do have some very lovely shots that Chris took on a quick paddle through the creek that runs adjacent to our house. The scenery around here is worlds away from what I am used to. There are no hills, and the trees all have beautiful (and somewhat spooky) spanish moss hanging from their limbs. It's lovely and unfamiliar and it is really neat exploring. Along with the restaurants and shops and theatres, it is part of the fun of being new in town to find all the wild parts of the city. And meeting new creatures.

Spoooooooky.