Boundary Waters, It's all in the way you see it.

When my son Simon was not yet two, we were driving by my work, here at Piragis, on a Saturday.  He kept pointing out the window saying, "Hat, hat" over and over again.  I didn't see any hats anywhere.  I'm not one to let things go, so that bounced around in my pea brain for quite a while.  What the heck was he talking about?  I even looked around on Monday to see if he'd lost a hat on the ground, or if he'd somehow spotted one in the grass by the canoe and kayak warehouse.

Nothing doin.

I know this is almost taboo, considering where I work and our love for everything lightweight, especially kevlar canoes, but at home I have an alumacraft canoe.  I still have it and use it for a variety of reasons.  The first and foremost is that it was our wedding present from my Mom and Dad.  One side has my name in those reflective license stickers, "TIM" and the other has my wife's "JEN".  Even though my back doesn't feel like it did in my twenties, I can still pop that 65 pounder up on my shoulders.  We've had a lot of fun times in that canoe.  Day trips and fishing trips and exploration paddles.  Kids and dogs all in piles on the floor.  :)  I've never taken it on a canoe trip and I won't.  I'm sentimental, not silly.  I'd rather pack along 20 extra lbs of food and luxury gear and borrow a Wenonah Champlain from work.

Anyway, we were going somewhere paddling together and I popped our canoe up on my shoulders and headed for the car.  Simon began shouting "Hat, hat, hat daddy." And suddenly it sank in.  Right through my thick skull.  Canoe.  Hat.  He knew you wore a hat on your head and he was used to seeing people around Ely carrying canoes up (on their heads).  He thought they were big hats.  Big yellow (or in this case, silver) hats.

It's all in the way you see it.  Wilderness is not for everyone, but it sure is wonderful for those of us who love it.  Keep your HATS ON!

Tim