Relishing the offseason

I finally got back in the boat today.  Joe made it this time, and the harbor looked lovely after last week's yucky conditions.  Some extra water helped: although the remnants of Hurricane Nate veered well to the east of the Memphis area ten days ago, it dropped a good bit of rain in the Tennessee River basin, and that water is now flowing past Memphis.  Today's level was 4.85 feet on the Memphis gauge.  That's still quite a low level, but around our dock it makes all the difference in the world.  Compare this photo, taken this morning, with the one I posted back on September 25:

The overnight temperature had been in the 40s Fahrenheit, but by the time I got to the river it was rising above 60 degrees.  Joe and I did a lap of the harbor in 80 minutes.  Every spring I do a timed lap of the harbor, clocking almost a half hour faster than that.  Clearly, Joe and I were just cruising and talking and enjoying the beautiful sunny day.