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New Year's 2003 Little Spokane River Paddle and Potluck

By Eric Erickson

I'm happy to report that we had a very beautiful, relatively uneventful paddle. The weather cooperated by stopping raining for just about the time it took us to get onto the river, paddle, and get off of it. Actually we did briefly see a circular, diffuse, "more bright portion" of the sky for awhile which we assumed was the sun, all of us having forgotten what the real thing looks like. It was raining again by the time the potluck portion of the day was over.

We saw a very photogenic immature eagle (as indicated by the remarks he/she made regarding people paddling in January), a moderately photogenic blue heron, and a not-very-photogenic porcupine hanging out as a dark blob in a tree, plus lots of ducks and a few geese. It's very nice to see the Little Spokane Natural Area in its peaceful "winter" mode. A few months from now (pant! pant!) it will be getting green and noisy with birds (and paddlers). Pierre provided New Year's "festive explosives" (I can't find the right word) to accompany lunch on the river. No one was badly injured.

The New Year's 2003 paddlers included Jerry Ceseratto, Diane Adams, Gary and Ruth Pagac, Brian ("Beanless") Burns, Charlie and Mary Johnston(?), Bob and Jill Kassa, Clark and Barbara Johnston, Mary and Larry Wright, Pierre (Big Warm Coat) Finch, Rosemarie Bisiar, Mark Parks, David White, and Eric Erickson. If you paddled and your name is not present you may need to also(?) PRINT it on the trip roster next time!

The Pot Luck was, as usual with anything involving food, a big success. We had lots of food and good stuff to drink and plenty of opportunity to sit and talk in a quiet environment. Rather than risk alienating the people who didn't bring deviled eggs, chili, spaghetti, jello mold (?), caramels, etc., I won't mention any of the types of food I personally sampled.

What a really great way to start a new paddling year! Thanks to all of you who participated, and we certainly look forward to doing it again January 1, 2004. So does our Golden Retriever, Meggie. Her only complaint and observation, was that nobody brought any kids - so next year, let's make the 2004 New Year's Pot Luck a "kids too" event!