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

Just a boy and a girl in a little canoe

With the moon shining all around

As he glides his paddle

You couldn't even hear a sound

And they talked and they talked

Till the moon grew dim

He said you better kiss me

Or get out and swim

So what you gonna do in a little canoe

With the moon shinin' all a--

Boats floatin all a--

Girls swimmin' all a rou-ou-ound!

Okay, okay... It wasn't evening and I actually did kiss him, but I waited to do so until we were out of the canoe... I was already nervous enough that I was going to sink the canoe. 

So, number six of new at 42 was a canoe ride. Now, if we're going to be technical about it - and we are - I have canoed before. Part of my very strict and binding contract with myself was that I could consider old things new, if I haven't done it like three decades... and if it's somehow come to fill me with all sorts of worrisome ideas. I used to canoe back at camp, in the mid 80s or so, I guess. I used to really enjoy it. After all, I love being in or on water!

Every year we meet my family in the Wisconsin north woods, and for the last few years R has expressed that he'd like it if I canoed with him. (He used to canoe quite a bit, before his canoe was stolen some years ago.) For some reason I've been really resistant, though. Okay.... to be honest, mostly that reason is because I've been quite afraid that I'd sink the canoe. I was a lot lighter back in the mid 80s, after all. I was a lot lighter a few years back, for that matter... back before I allowed my drastically worsening anxiety issues to dictate my daily menu.

That, the weight, is a problem I have to fix, but in the meantime, my dear hubby still wanted to canoe and was 100% certain that I wouldn't sink it. Turns out, he was right. 

Still, I was relieved to see (after I was already in it) that the weight limit on the canoe was 3 person or 700 lb maximum - phew!  That was definitely a relief, but I was still nervous. R is so gentle with me and my craziness, though. Once I got in, I relaxed pretty well. It's not like I'm afraid of falling in the water - I swim just fine. Yet, knowing me, I'd conk my head on the canoe and sink to the bottom. Fortunately, that didn't happen. In fact, I relaxed enough to get out my camera and start taking some photos... ahem, while R did all the paddling. Nice, huh? He didn't mind - he was just glad to have me out there with him! 

After a bit, we went back to shore and picked up a very special someone. This is my nephew - he's awesome!! 

So, canoeing was a big success! I will definitely go again. It made me realize how silly a worry this one was. Some of my fears fill my whole person with complete and utter panic that takes me over - like flying and going over big bridges, and occasionally just living. 

Canoeing was never like that - it was just a worry that I let get bigger and bigger in my head. One might argue that the other ones I listed are just in my head too, but there's a big difference between utter panic and a misguided notion. I'll have to keep that difference in mind. 

I guess the thing is that flying and bridges and living are all things that, you know, I absolutely have to face and get through - no matter how much I might panic about them. Canoeing and horseback riding (something else to tackle again in the future, perhaps?) and other worrisome, but not panic inducing, activities are things I can avoid...  but doing so perhaps robs me of some of life's pleasures and beauty. 

Along the lines of canoeing, we tried another new, while we were up there. We go every year and tend to go to the same places every time, not that there are that many to choose from. Well, this time I wanted to do something else new, so we grabbed my mom and went to the Red Canoe for an early lunch - or was it a late breakfast?

Lovely, 

charming,

full of all sorts of fun treats, and

quite delicious!

What a great place! I've seen it every year, but never went in - so glad we tried it this year. My mom went back two more times before she left (we only stay a few days, but my family stays a full week).

So two canoes and two successes!

Now here's something that was also new, but considerably less of a success....

On a whim I picked up this strange looking fruit, right before we left. It's called a kiwano melon.

I thought R and my niblings might like to give it a try, just for fun. 

They might have had fun trying it... but they kinda hope they never have to again...

It tasted like a strange mix between a cucumber, a kiwi, and a cantaloupe. 

Yuck! Yeah, some new things are better left as one and done.  

By the way, this is my niece - she's awesome!!  She also taught me something new... it might be another old/new, but I really don't remember: slapjack!

I adore my niblings!! 

The rest of the family is pretty great too, truth be told... even if this sign, in one of our cabins, is a little fitting sometimes.... ☺

This one too! 

It was truly a wonderful trip, both the new and the old. 

I have about a thousand more photos I'd love to post, but I'll refrain.... for now.

Hey, maybe next year we could stay the full week... and then I'll have a couple thousand, probably.