Toasted

Friday, July 15, 2011
We have a heat index warming today that the index may reach 110 today. That's less than great news for this gal who'd prefer to have summer highs between 65 and 70 degrees, especially since I'm already feeling a little toasted.

There's no reason to subject you to photos of my sunburn, but I can assure you that despite quite liberal sunscreen application on Wednesday, there are certain strips of skin -- my forearms and a patch above my back waistline -- that are lovely shades of painful fluorescent. Nothing I can do now but keep the aloe vera close at hand. The burns' sting seem to have diminished significantly overnight and I'm hoping that means I'll feel a little more with it today. It always amazes me just how much a day in the full sun can take out of you. Mix a full day of sun with a sense of being overwhelmed by laundry, articles, and various other obligations and Wednesday evening was one cranky, emotional mess.

Still, the pre-toasted part of the day was pretty darn nice. Andy and I headed down the lake for a day's paddle. I think the high temp was somewhere in the low 70s: no absurdly high heat indexes here! At least not yet . . .

We found our first loon chicks of the year, just as we were turning the corner into the Boundary Waters.

Twins!

Another feathered friend followed us for a while once we reached the far end of the lake and started heading up the river that connects the lake we live on to the next lake.
This little duck (she didn't even have full wings yet) stayed close by the entire time we were on the river, even when we made a lengthy stop halfway upstream to do some catch and release fishing. There were a ton of hungry bass hanging out in the river, just waiting to grab our night crawlers.

After the fish had several bites of yummy worm and we'd had a bite of lunch ourselves (not of yummy worm), we headed on to the next lake. Why both portaging when you can just press on upstream through the river?


The sunburn no doubt happened on our return trip to the cabin. Turns out SPF 45 just doesn't hold for six hours and several miles of paddling. As the French would say: "Eh bien." Something tells me that as the temperature soars these next few days, I'll soon be wishing I was back in the river, feeling the cool current tug and swirl around my ankles.

10 comments:

  1. Aww, the loons are adorable! I can never capture a picture of one, the always dive before I get my camera out. I've also tried to get a picture of a wood duck, because they too seem to be a bit illusive. Still no luck.

    Looks like you guys had a good time fishing! How fun.

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  2. The closest I ever got to having a sunburn was paddling on a river. I blame it on the reflection from the water.

    Sorry about the burn! Good fishing though, eh?

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  3. This heat and humidity does make everyday activities a chore. We also have a heat index warning. The river does sound like a good place to be today, but take the sunblock. Lovely photos.
    Have a great weekend!

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  4. I got burned myself this year, for the first time in about five years. My knees, on the fourth of july. I guess something about sitting for several hours in the sun will do that... I felt like a dodo though! Looks like you had quite a fun day, I love the loon chicks!

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  6. I am so jealous that you have access to rivers and such. Yes, I live near the beach, but there is something special about a cool running river.

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  7. Sorry to hear about the sunburn :( Two saturdays ago I took my baby sister to a fair. I was only there two hours so figured I could go without sunscreen. Boy was I wrong! The backs of both my knees were burnt so bad it hurt to wear long pants :(

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  8. what a great summer day! minus the sunburn. i kind of welcome the occasional stinging skin-- kind of makes you feel alive & like you "earned" it. but then, it just sucks because even showering hurts!

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  9. That river looks SO refreshing! Sorry about the sunburn, obviously my Irish husband is no stranger to the sunburn, Aloe is a very popular product in our house :)

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  10. Despite the sunburn, it sounds lovely! Thanks for reminding me of tugging river currents.

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