Greetings.  Level of the Phatwater today, on the Natchez Gauge, is 44.69′ and rising. If this weather holds and we get a warm day toward next weekend we may attempt a second attempt on the Giles Circumnavigation, provided it doesn’t conflict with the BCS or anyone’s cooking classes.

I love a good controversy.  I love a good argument, a heartfelt contradiction.  Of course, there are some who claim I do not.  Ambiguity is seldom what it seems.

I was assailed by several, regarding my thoughts on the “Kindle®”.  I should say this comes as no surprise.  In 1971 a gentleman of note in our community showed me his new Pulsar digital watch, the first of its kind commercially available.  I had seen ads for the watch and knew it to be priced at $600, the same amount of money two years later I paid for my entire first semester of college.  Some people leap at new technology with a short handled net. Others, I among them, tend to troll for it with a limber rod, a long line and a single , de-barbed hook.  I have no idea what provoked the fishing metaphor.  Maybe it’s because Kindle and King Mackerel sort of start out with the same look and feel. In any case, just keep in mind that Kindle rhymes with Swindle.  And no matter how you try, you can’t press a four leaf clover between the pages of one.

There are resolutions, and then there are resolutions.  An 8 power pair of binoculars and a 10 power pair of binoculars will always offer different resolutions.  12 megapixels will give greater resolution than 6 megapixels.  All things considered, it would seem as though most folks would prefer 12 megapixels to 6.  More is better. This seems counterintuitive, however.  A good many New Year’s Resolutions involve becoming less, than more.  Many people resolve to BE less, than more, to REDUCE, as opposed to increase.  I want MORE megapixels in my camera, but I want LESS of myself.  Confusing, but nonetheless, this is how things shake out.

I wish you all well in any commitment you may have made to resolving something anew, and in your goal of achieving it.  Many of our Phatwater paddlers were able to achieve a new goal this past October in winning one of our coveted Sub-V Phatwater Swiss Army Knives.  We had 22 new Sub-V paddlers this year who took home, or were later presented with our prize fishing catch, the Phatwater Sub-V Swiss Army Knife.

In some respects I suppose you could call this a Phatwater Catch-22.  I don’t mean to overemphasize the significance of this prize because all who enter and finish the Phatwater have achieved an extraordinary accomplishment, and this is what matters the most to us here at KayakMississippi Aitch-Kew.  Being a part of the Phatwater is what counts, and we’re counting on you all to come again, year after year, and at least go Phishing with us for a Phew hours as we make our way downriver and into the history books.

Incidentally, Swiss Army Knife has found out about our Phatwater Sub-V trophy, and they are interested in becoming a sponsor, so keep your Phat-Cat whiskers crossed.

As for my personal resolutions, I resolve to find out what this part of the K-9 anatomy is referred to as:  I’ve searched and searched, and if I can’t get a satisfactory answer by, oh, say Tuesday afternoon, I plan to name it myself, for veterinary science and posterity, as well as a means of entering into St. Hubertus’s Order Of Die Tierschutzverien

Danke,

All for now-KB