oh, the places we'll go!

      Drum roll, please! Yes! It's official dee dee. Mark has finished his canoe and it is the prettiest boat that you ever did saw. Two weeks ago it was complete. D-O-N-E done. Over 450 hours of patient, meticulous work by his truly. We were so excited. I did a little dance in the shop and Mark said "Let's go for a midnight paddle!" promptly followed by "but I'm not sure the last coat of varnish is absolutely dry" whereupon I suggested we get up early the next morning and put the boat in the water before sunrise. Done! Done and done.


      And oh how good it was. The grey glide and stillness of dawn. Everyone a'slumber but us. The boat was true and sensitive, even better than we imagined. Since that morning we've gone twice more. In rain, in snow, around islands and houseboats, in a different lake each time.
      These photos were taken on a day Mark spent with a friend in which I'm pretty sure cigars and fishing rods played a major role.
      Thus, the canoe has officially been broken in. I love thinking of the secrets it holds - moonlight and sunup, weary and bright- all the places we've yet been via canoe.

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