Canoeing, OR, Wow, the Vowel Sequence “oei” Looks Awkward

A nice thing about being in a summer program like a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) is this: sometimes, you don’t have to plan your social activities and adventures. The program directors will plan them for you. In this case, the Chemistry Department set us up to go canoeing on Lake Woodson (near Emporia, KS, if you know where that is) on a fine, hot Kansas summer afternoon. The canoeing was originally supposed to take place on a river in the region, but recent thunderstorms caused water levels to rise to the extent that that plan became a bad idea.

Naturally, the lake was quite warm near the surface and in shallow waters, so getting in was exceedingly comfortable, and still cooler than being out of the water. I am also rather certain that despite my best SPF 45 efforts, I got sunburned, but maybe not too badly. Other notable highlights of the trip include everyone paddling into a cove, getting stuck, backing out very awkwardly, a canoe (not mine) tipping over, and subsequent swimming and investigation of the mysterious solar-powered cubes suspended over floats on the lake. To those of you unfamiliar with the world of fishing, it will not be obvious that the last part refers to automated fish-feeding devices used in fish population management.

On another note, the drive to and from the lake gave me a chance to read a bit. Now that I have finished reading about galactic colonization, it was time for me to move on to Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick. This is, in fact, the novel referred to in Waking Life as the PKD novel that supposedly resembles the Book of Acts, so for that reason at least, I had to check it out. A very strange novel, but a quick, interesting read. Typical PKD metaphysical science fiction, which I like. On that note, I offer this haiku, second in a series of X, where X is an integer (I hope):
“PKD says MU”
All I do not see
And all I un-think confirms:
Reality isn’t.