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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Summer Tastes and Smells Like Lake Michigan in My Hair

Stream of Consciousness (SOC) Sunday has migrated from AllThingsFadra (which you should still follow by e-mail, because it's a great blog) to Jana's Thinking Place. Find the prompt there, blog your 5-minute stream of consciousness, then link up! Today's prompt is, "What does summer smell or taste like to you, and why?"

Summer smells like Lake Michigan in my hair. I just got back from an anniversary trip to Silver Beach (St. Joseph, Michigan) with my husband, Tit Elingtin. We've been married ten years now. I wanted to try paddleboarding, and there's a sporting goods shop on the beach that rents paddleboards. They're also called sups, short for stand-ups.

You know what the worst thing about paddleboarding is? That, at some point, you have to stop paddleboarding. Otherwise, it's pretty awesome. They're wider than a standard surfboard, pretty stable, and the paddle helps you keep your balance when you're standing up. I only wiped out once. Well, I fell off twice, but the first time was on purpose. I got too close to the swim buoys and couldn't turn myself around fast enough. Fast turns will take a little more practice.

Now I'm a surfer wannabe, and I wish I could be a beach bum and just paddleboard, lay on the beach and read books the rest of the summer. If I can stand up on a sup, I can totally stand up on an actual longboard, right? I think I could.

I'd like to go to Hawaii and find out. Of course, since I'm obsessed with From Here to Eternity right now, I wanted to go to Hawaii anyway. Y'know, more than I usually want to go to Hawaii, which is already a lot.
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On another note, for the next few hours, I am caught up on watching Season 5 of True Blood. Last night I tweeted:
...and Pam answered me:

Gawd, I love Twitter. Y'all know I stalk the living shit out of TheDorkMistress on Tumblr, and this morning the fabulous Kala L. (via EyesOfWitt, another chick whose fictional boyfriend is Pvt. Bob Witt) reblogged this gem:

Jim Caviezel does an impression of Homer Simpson...and I die. As if I didn't already have a ridiculous Catholic schoolgirl crush on him. (Jim Caviezel surfs, but then, he was born on the West Coast and not near a Great Lake that makes a rather poor excuse for an ocean. Whatever. I love being Midwestern.) 

[2024 Update: The video is no longer available on YouTube.]

I wonder if he knows about the episode wherein Homer dresses as Jesus and gets struck by lightning


7 comments:

Dominique@Dominique's Desk said...

I haven't tried paddleboarding but it sounds like fun.

a.eye said...

How cool to get a response back on Twitter!

I have not tried paddle boarding, just tried jet skiing a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. I will have to add paddle boarding to my next lake visit.

Erin O'Riordan said...

I don't care how much of a nerd this makes me - I love that people role-play the True Blood vampires on Twitter.

Paddleboarding is SO much fun. Do try it.

Jana A (@jana0926) said...

So glad you joined us! YOu know, I saw paddle boarding going on where we went for vacation. It looked so interesting. And like a full body workout. I may have to check it out next time!

Alexis Trass Walker said...

I live right on Lake Michigan in Indiana. It's been YEARS since I got into that water, mostly because I don't know how to swim. But paddleboarding makes me want to learn!

Erin O'Riordan said...

I'm not a very strong swimmer, either, so I wear my float jacket the whole time. It's definitely a workout - I feel it in my outer thighs and upper arms.

Sandra said...

I was just talking to my friend at work about paddle boarding! It sounds like a bunch of fun. Sups the word now. I'm going to have to try it!