You Know You Have a Problem..

It’s March, granted it’s late March but it’s still March. I live in New England. It hasn’t been much of a winter but it has been cold. Water doesn’t change temperature as quickly as the air does. And yet, I find myself obsessing about putting my boat into the water. I’m craving the feel of floating down a river, or across a lake under my own power (and I'm not quite nuts enough to want to go swimming, yet). Logically I know this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about it.

Maybe it’s the relatively warm weather, or the predictions of near 70 degree weather on Friday, or the longer sunlight, or the finally finishing the kayak rack (photos soon) or the crew shells which now dot the Charles River morning and night. Or maybe I’m just nuts.

Of course I’m not as nuts as Brommer Bill who was out on the Charles in January – yes January! Bill has an advantage, though, he actually owns the necessary gear for cold weather paddling – wet suit, insulated booties, house near the river, full skirt… I don’t. This picture was taken by Bill, and yes that's snow on the front of the kayak.

So, I’ll have to content myself with dreaming about the first trip – likely nearly a month away and with dreaming about kayaking. On my list for dream support is acquiring the Northern Forest Canoe Trail maps. The NFCT is a link of waterways in New York, Quebec and northern New England. The organization has mapped the routes, including campsites and other local information.

And today I found myself checking out the details of the Run of the Charles. There’s a 6 mile race included in the offerings. I can paddle 6 miles – I’ve done almost that distance before, on that stretch of the Charles chasing after my nephew. What I don’t know is whether I could do it in under 2 hours (the slowest time listed in last year’s results is 1:54 minutes). I’d really, really hate to be last, and I’d really, really, really hate to be last by more than a couple of minutes.

Incidentally, the picture at the top is not me. It’s Kristen the KSC kayaker in last year’s Friends of Tuckerman Inferno pentathalon. Brommer (see above more nuts than I am note) will be doing the kayak leg in this year’s inferno. Since the race conflicts with NEFFA we are unlikely to be there to cheer him on, although we will be cheering from afar.

Music That Moves Me

Tracy tagged me more than a month ago to respond to a musical meme.

The challenge: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

I haven't responded because I'm having a really hard time figuring out which seven songs - 7, one less than 8 - that's just not enough. As my Dad commented the last time he was in my house, I own a lot of cds. While I don't listen to music at home much, I do listen to music almost constantly at work and a good portion of time in the car, especially if I'm driving by myself. I spend nearly 2 hours a day in the car during the week, and lately a lot of that time has been solo. Music runs through my head frequently. The workday playlist usually starts with me scrolling through ITunes and stopping when something catches my eye. Some days I start at the top, some at the bottom, and every once in the while I scroll to the middle. I've got several days worth of music in there.

The other problem I've been having with this is that there are so many songs and artists worthy of mention. Most of the artists I listen to regularly aren't mainstream, so I feel an obligation to give them credit for touching my life, and also figure that mentioning them may prompt interest and improve the likelihood that they'll be able to put out more cds.

So, here I sit a month later still trying to figure out which songs artists to include. The music I enjoy tends toward the mellow. When Amy and I were putting together the play list for our wedding celebration we discovered that we owned almost no dance music. The music I love is primarily women's folk music, although I do have a soft spot for Billy Joel, James and Livingston Taylor, Bare Naked Ladies, and even a song or two from Jethro Tull. I also still enjoy John Denver. (I have recently realized what torture it must have been for my older brother to put up with my listening to John Denver albums over and over and over until I memorized all the lyrics. Sorry Brad!)

Without further ado here's my top 10 (I just couldn't keep it to 7) in no particular order.
1 - The One's Who Aren't Here written by John Calvi, sung by Meg Christian. It's a bitter sweet look at coming out and of all the forces which work against gays and lesbians being able to be themselves without fear. (This one's been playing in my head cause I only have it on LP, not CD.)
2 - We Are One by Emma's Revolution.
A song of peace, I always want more verses of this song.
3 - Northern Star by Ann Reed.
This song makes me think of Amy who is "my east, my south & west".
4 - Ordinary Town written by Dave Carter, sung by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
My wonderful sister-out-law, Shelley, introduced me to Tracy Grammer (yes, we did go to the concert at TCAN and, despite the fact that Amy had a concert of her own earlier that day, it was great and I'm hooked). This song first grabbed me with it's tune.
5 - Little Road - Cheryl Wheeler
This song is all about reconciling the good things in life, with all the horrible things happening in the world.
6 - We the People - Cris Williamson
This is another song of peace, from the perspective of our nation's reaction to the terror attacks of September 11th.
7 - I Heard an Owl - Carrie Newcomer
The chorus sums this song up well:

Don't tell me hate is ever right or God's will
These are the wheels we set in motion ourselves
the whole world weeps and is weeping still
Though shaken I still believe
the best of what we all can be
The only peace this world will know
Can only come from love

8 - Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
I never listened to the Dixie Chicks until they were lambasted for making comments against President Bush. I like a lot of their songs. This one made me cry the first time I really paid attention to the words.
9 - Raisin Pie - Diane Taraz
I discovered Diane Taraz last year at NEFFA. Much of her music, including this song, pay homage to her French Canadian ancestry. This one always makes me smile.
Other NEFFA discoveries include the Short Sisters, Taproot, and the Johnson Girls.
10 - I don'thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif know the name of this last song. It's one I learned from Amy and it's been in my head because Purim was last week. It's a children's song, complete with hand motions. The English words (there's also a Hebrew version) are

My hat it has three corners
three corners has my hat
and if it did not have three corners
it would not be my hat.

That's the list for tonight. I wish I could have included songs by Tret Fure, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tracy Chapman, Ferron, and many more.

I'm supposed to tag a bunch of other people, but the only other bloggers I know besides , who should consider herself tagged, are Tracy, who tagged me, and Shelley, who was also tagged by Tracy.