Chasing Summer

I have made it my mission for as long as the Sun lasts ..or for awhile to use my free time to chase down the sun. There is a summer going on and it is not in the San Francisco area. But it certainly is going on in California.

Spent the weekend among friends on the river for Nathan D's birthday - rafting and camping. It was great fun. Here are some snip-ets:

Zach and I decide to find out if air mattresses can double as rafts. We used Heather and Nathan's air mattress for this activity (always a good idea not to put your own bed in jeopardy when attempting such stunts). Commotion and high hilarity ensued. We hit many banks and trees and quite a few spider's nests filled with blood sucking leeches. Ok - maybe they weren't blod sucking leeches - but they stung like hell. All of this amid a cacaphony of laughter - bugs in my bathing suit but my cheeks punctuating my grin like bookends. In the end, indeed an air mattress can function as a great raft...and a great thing to do once you gain control of it is to create an anchor. We anchored down the floation device with some rope and a plastic bag filled with a bunch of bottles of beer.

The real rafting was yesterday - Heather, Nathan, Zach, and I had a blast. Tho 7 hours on the water does tend to change the skin...mine is now pink and hot and has less elasticity.....but the burn is a good reminder that you pay for what you get. I am still grinning and happy for the wonderful adventure. Each of us saying countless times...'this is the life'....and it is true. That is the life...that is fun and friends and sunshine and work and nature and food....life is good.