Thanks, guys.
The account was about a laid-back, straightforward trip that, in many ways, epitomized what I enjoy most about canoeing in Quetico in the Fall. It was more about "camaraderie" than some of my previous, wilder adventure tales of yesteryear. Regardless, the story flowed into my finger tips remarkably easily from sketchy notes, our collective memories and the many pics we shared. Which reminds me... Lord knows HOW MANY beers I now owe TomT! That was HIS great pic of Lawrence & Luna on page 12 (it would have made a good magazine cover!). I also owe TomT a six-pack for solving the great Heckle & Jeckle mystery of 2019....
My only disappointments with the "slightly-edited" BWJ version are these: 1) I would have liked to have seen Stu use a really good pic of Wally13 & MagicPaddler on the beach during a spectacular twilight (well... the scene was spectacular but I probably needed the photography skills of Spartan2 to "make the cut"), and 2) he omitted a very short paragraph I had written about a weird observation of mine made on Burntside Lake. I was paddling back to camp one afternoon when I spotted some nit-wit "hand-feeding" fish carcasses to the largest bloody eagle I have ever seen! I thought it noteworthy... in a "knucklehead" sort of sense. So, in my submission, I characterized that deranged dude as a "possible Darwin Awards" candidate. I guess that characterization didn't play so well with the editors. Nevertheless, overall, I was quite pleased with how my submission was handled. As usual, I'll post the "unvarnished" version in the QJ "Stories" section sometime next year for comparison purposes.
Hey, when Luna and Lawrence are among the "lead characters", I mean, a story can only go so far south, right? It was a fun trip!
Thanks, again, for your kind words. The piece was a real joy to write and will surely remain one of my all-time favorites!
Jimbo