Lake Living: A Second Kayak and a Fall
Darwin went with me to the sporting goods store to look at wrist weights. We walked inside, and straight into a huge display of kayaks.
A bit of history: when we moved up to the lake last year, I wanted a kayak. A sporting goods store is only a couple blocks away from us, so we went kayak hunting. It turned out to be devilishly difficult--they had few in stock, and most were ungodly expensive. Turned out that the pandemic, which was in full swing, was pushing people to look for safe activities, and kayaking is one of them. The store couldn't keep kayaks in stock! A clerk told us they didn't even bother unwrapping them. They just put them on the sales floor, still encased in plastic wrap, and they were gone within a day. After several trips to the store, I finally found one that was more-or-less affordable and used it happily, but we couldn't get a second one for Darwin without paying $800, so we decided to wait.
Winter came, and it passed quickly. A few days ago, the lakes melted. And apparently, the sporting goods store decided to get a jump start on kayak season. Today, they had dozens and dozens and dozens of them, in all sizes and price ranges, all neatly stacked right up by the front door.
Well, dang!
It's still too cold for kayaking, but decided to get a kayak for Darwin anyway, on the grounds that they might sell out again. We got one for way less than I paid for mine. We got the cheapest one, really, because our lake is shallow and basically waveless, and we don't need ultra-stability, titanium steel, or stealth capabilities.
We were carrying it back through the store parking lot toward our place when Darwin tripped on a parking block.
He went straight down to hands and knees on the pavement, and I saw him hit his head. My heart about stopped. I shouted his name and tried to get him back up. I couldn't at first, and I wondered if I should call an ambulance. But finally he got upright. He'd hit his head on the kayak, not the pavement, at least.
Somehow, we got him and the kayak back home. Upstairs, I examined the damage. The area above his right eye was tender and swelling up, and both knees were a bloody mess. I gave him an ice pack with orders to keep it on his eye, then put cold cloths on his knees (this made him hiss) while I hunted up the peroxide. At first, he didn't want me to use it, but I told him it was that or a bath to clean the wounds. He relented. I put towels under his legs and started pouring. It set the scrapes bubble merrily, which made Darwin hiss again, but when it stopped, he said he was surprised that everything had stopped hurting. (He'd never put peroxide on a sore before.)
I fed him ibuprofen, then went to the drug store for bandages and antiseptic spray. Back home, I did the spraying (NO STING! the label proudly proclaimed), and Darwin howled. "The label lies!" he yelped. When everything died down, we got the bandages on him.
Darwin had meanwhile abandoned the ice pack. I checked his forehead, and found a knot under construction. I refreshed the ice pack and told him to leave it there, or he was going to have a bruise. He did.
He's feeling better now, even more so after I burned a batch of cookies for him, and I think he'll avoid a bruise.
But we have another kayak.
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A bit of history: when we moved up to the lake last year, I wanted a kayak. A sporting goods store is only a couple blocks away from us, so we went kayak hunting. It turned out to be devilishly difficult--they had few in stock, and most were ungodly expensive. Turned out that the pandemic, which was in full swing, was pushing people to look for safe activities, and kayaking is one of them. The store couldn't keep kayaks in stock! A clerk told us they didn't even bother unwrapping them. They just put them on the sales floor, still encased in plastic wrap, and they were gone within a day. After several trips to the store, I finally found one that was more-or-less affordable and used it happily, but we couldn't get a second one for Darwin without paying $800, so we decided to wait.
Winter came, and it passed quickly. A few days ago, the lakes melted. And apparently, the sporting goods store decided to get a jump start on kayak season. Today, they had dozens and dozens and dozens of them, in all sizes and price ranges, all neatly stacked right up by the front door.
Well, dang!
It's still too cold for kayaking, but decided to get a kayak for Darwin anyway, on the grounds that they might sell out again. We got one for way less than I paid for mine. We got the cheapest one, really, because our lake is shallow and basically waveless, and we don't need ultra-stability, titanium steel, or stealth capabilities.
We were carrying it back through the store parking lot toward our place when Darwin tripped on a parking block.
He went straight down to hands and knees on the pavement, and I saw him hit his head. My heart about stopped. I shouted his name and tried to get him back up. I couldn't at first, and I wondered if I should call an ambulance. But finally he got upright. He'd hit his head on the kayak, not the pavement, at least.
Somehow, we got him and the kayak back home. Upstairs, I examined the damage. The area above his right eye was tender and swelling up, and both knees were a bloody mess. I gave him an ice pack with orders to keep it on his eye, then put cold cloths on his knees (this made him hiss) while I hunted up the peroxide. At first, he didn't want me to use it, but I told him it was that or a bath to clean the wounds. He relented. I put towels under his legs and started pouring. It set the scrapes bubble merrily, which made Darwin hiss again, but when it stopped, he said he was surprised that everything had stopped hurting. (He'd never put peroxide on a sore before.)
I fed him ibuprofen, then went to the drug store for bandages and antiseptic spray. Back home, I did the spraying (NO STING! the label proudly proclaimed), and Darwin howled. "The label lies!" he yelped. When everything died down, we got the bandages on him.
Darwin had meanwhile abandoned the ice pack. I checked his forehead, and found a knot under construction. I refreshed the ice pack and told him to leave it there, or he was going to have a bruise. He did.
He's feeling better now, even more so after I burned a batch of cookies for him, and I think he'll avoid a bruise.
But we have another kayak.
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