Paerdegat sunset, 7/24/14, and getting the post-work paddle habit back into my life

I've been thoroughly happy about reinstating my post-work paddles this summer, it's so nice to unwind after work with a couple of hours out on the bay. I sort of lost them last year; just when things were winding down from budget season and year end close and the weather was getting nice enough to be out after dark, two co-workers resigned, and with the extra work, it got to be tough to get out of work early enough to make it worth the trek to the club (I get part of the way there and all of the way home by bus, so if I leave too much after 6 it makes for a really late night) and I ended up doing more post-work walks for exercise than paddles. This year, we're back to full staff and having a much more normal summer.

I didn't get myself back into the swing of post-work paddles right away - I'm a person who tends to stick to her routines, and once packing up the gear and schlepping to the club in the evening was out of the routine, it didn't get put back in right away - but I got motivated in July because I'm planning myself a little adventure (or maybe I should say a nice trip, my favorite quote of TQ's being "It's not an adventure 'til something goes wrong") in August, for which I need to be comfortable with long daily paddles, and it's been great. Last winter's weather didn't permit much paddling, and my sitting-in-a-boat stamina was noticeably low this Spring (especially when we did the Manhattan circumnavigation in May - I made it, but wow, it was long) but I've been getting out for twelve to fifteen mile paddles and I'm feeling much more like my normal self.

I haven't been taking my camera on these post-work paddles because I wanted to focus on the paddling, but for some reason I decided to bring it last Thursday, which was a beautiful day, and look what a nice sunset the Paerdegat dished up for me! I was drifting past the rings from my own paddle drips and took a couple shots with the camera held very low to the water to catch the ripples and reflections. Came out pretty nicely, I think.

I'll tell you more about the August thing when I get back. It's a pretty low-key trip compared to some of the spectacular expeditions various friends of mine have done in kayaks, but it's something I've wanted to do for several years, suddenly everything fell into place nicely for me to do it this year, I jumped on it as soon as I realized that was the case, and I'm really looking forward to it. That's about all I'm going to say about it for now; there are a couple of reasons I don't want to social-media-ize it before I go. For starters, believe it or not, August starts this week and I have got TONS to do before I head out!