an Advanced Solo Canoeing DVD and Something New

Hi paddlers! A few years have slipped by since things started moving along here. The Solo Canoeing DVD was our first production back in the day. I think it's time to add to the collection a bit. I would like to do an Advanced Solo Canoeing DVD this spring/summer and I need your help convincing Darren Bush to hop in a canoe and paddle it in front of the camera again. Darren and the shop he owns, Rutabaga, remains one of the best paddling and canoe loving shops you'll find in the USA. Rutabaga puts on Canoecopia every year, which is the best paddlefest, canoefest, "spring into spring" event you'll find in the country! I hope you'll consider emailing the shop or possibly calling Rutabaga and letting Darren and the staff know you're interested! Or you might consider attending Canoecopia this spring and tell him in person :) Contact info is in the video. I didn't want to write that out in text in the blog....Even better take a drive to Madison and walk the aisles of the shop. It's an awesome place. He's usually there! I think Darren did a fabulous job teaching his craft in the first DVD. Every good thing thing deserves a followup right? Help me convince him!

PS - Times have changed. I would love to hear or read from those of you that would be interested in an online video series - in addition to a DVD. thanks all Jeff Bach Quietwater Media

Next Year's Water

Record breaking December snowfall in Madison,
for the second year in a row.

This marks the last entry in this blog for 2008. Being an optimist, I'm trying to take the lemons (HUGE snowfall) that have come my way and turn them into lemonade (next year's water). December 07 set a snowfall record for southern Wisconsin that I thought would not be broken. Turns out that December 08 was even bigger and snowier! In the immortal words of Greg Brown, "who woulda thunk it?" Every shovelful that I threw up on the pile next to the mailbox, I tried to imagine as water in a lake in a few months. I also tried to block out the buzz of snowblowers that surrounded me as I use a shovel to move the snow, unlike all of my neighbors. The top of the mailbox is about four feet above the curb. Thankfully, I finished the driveway before I ran out of space to throw the snow. The next few months look to be fairly quiet here in Wisconsin as there is no "boatable" water to speak of. Canoecopia looks to be the next big thing. Should be another fun event and a great way to usher in a new spring!