Sometime it's OK to stay close to home.

[Gcosloy]

It was a chilly day but unseasonably warm for Christmas Eve. The Chebeague resting purposefully on 10” wheels moved stylishly from my driveway a third of a mile down the road to meet the Sudbury at the single lane temporarily cobbled bridge at Pelham Island road where it was soon anointed with cold brackish water. Paddling north we traveled under the abandoned railroad bridge just before Route 20. The air was cool and windy causing the downstream trip to be a decent effort against wind driven flow and an occasional cold spray in the face from my dripping paddle. The wind on the Sudbury was moderate but occasional gusts tried to pull the paddle from my grip. Not altogether pleasant but not really unpleasant either. Wildlife seemed to be busy somewhere else, for I saw none. Just a bright winter sky and denuded flora. Soon we were closing under the Route 27 bridge and it was time to turn around for the trip back home. Not however without testing what I thought might be a loop of the river running east and under a triple arched bridge near the Wayland Golf course. Once we were safely through the bridge arch, the river devolved into what appeared to be flood plain and wetlands without a true forward route meeting the river’s northward drive. Disappointed, we turned around and headed home, now feeling the strong wind at our back but countered by the need for correcting strokes and leans almost the whole way. Unlike the seemingly endless sea, the river wants us tracking on a straight and narrow, else it's soon into the brambles. Soon, we were bumping into still unfrozen and soggy earth under the Pelham Island Bridge. The Chebeague rested once more on its axel of wheels and made the short portage home. Cars and trucks passed us on the road coming and going from last minute Christmas shopping and must have thought us a strange sight to see, like a fish out of water but happy and smiling nonetheless.