Is it over?

Greetings, Gentle Reader,


Well, unless there’s a public clamor for additional blog entries- highly unlikely, but still possible - this will be it. The row is over, the recounting of the highlights is in my wake, and unless I were to peel back the onion skin on some of the cheesier personal reflections, it’s pretty much time to move on, nes pah?


Together, we’ve raised a bit of money for financial aid on this adventure (about $1100 at last count…bringing us to $27,000 over the last four years), and I am extraordinarily appreciative to those of you who have opened your checkbooks yet again during these trying times. The boys and families on the receiving end of your largesse sorely need this assistance, and their commitment to education deserves support. Thank you for providing it. And even though this is likely to be the last blog entry about “Mr. Frei Rows to Washington,” operators are still sanding by! You can send a check to The Boys’ Latin School, 822 West Lake Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21210 ; happily, most envelopes accommodate checks (payable to The Boys’ Latin School) without incurring additional postal fees. And ink is light; lots of digits on those checks do not add appreciably to the weight, either. Hooray!


“So…what’s next, Mr. Frei?” you might wonder. “Any more rowing…any more Big Rows in the future?”


I’ll be rowing a lot on my home waters in a few weeks; my family and friends congregate at Lake George in the Adirondacks each summer. I like nothing better than rising very early, rowing on pre-dawn glass for two miles to my friend Brian’s house for a cup of good coffee and a perfectly toasted Freihofer’s Corn Toastie, and then continuing north until winds or aging muscles – such as they are – tell me it’s time to head home. Brian, who himself owns an exquisite cedar Adirondack Guideboat and knows how to row it, usually accompanies me. The image of Brain at the oars cutting an elegant swath through perfect waters is a picture that stays with me through the year…and one that I very much look forward to reliving each summer. He often brings his lovely wife Cecile and their hapless designer dog, Charlie, making the image all-the-more lovely. When Peg is along, it’s picture-perfect.


Of course, the real question is, “What’s the next “Big” row?” While I expect that I’ll row a hundred miles (or two) over the course of these halcyon morning outings in the Adirondacks, I’m already contemplating where next summer’s journey might take me.


Canada, for instance. There’s a lot to explore up there, and I suspect that the hospitality (and food) would be excellent, eh?


Kathy and Jane have some Michigan charts for me to ponder. Huh? Michigan? Why not?


The “Little Loop” beckons as well. From Troy, NY, one heads west on the Erie Canal and then, after Syracuse, up to Oswego and Lake Erie. Rowing north, well after Buffalo, the hearty rower then races down the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal, then right (south) down to (and through) the length of Lake Champlain, the Champlain Canal starting at Whitehall and, finally, back to Troy. There’s nothing “little” about this circle; I’m bushed just describing it. Maybe I ought to do it before I get much older? Maybe I’d need a longer summer vacation?


My Loomis 40th Reunion took place in June, reminding me yet again of my affection for a great school and my extraordinary classmates. Loomis is located in Connecticut, on the scenic Farmington River flowing into the Connecticut River. I wonder if I’ll be ready to row to (or from?) my 50th Reunion in 2019, when I’m 67? I’d better keep rowing. No “just rolling into the boat” in ten years.


How about a circumnavigation of the DelMarVa Peninsula? Check it out on a map. This, too, would be a biggie but would permit me to again start from home (and finish here, too). Unfortunately, the upper reaches of the DelMarVa present a good deal of Atlantic coast to gamble with…and Gentle Readers of good memory will recall my tepid-at-best feelings about the mighty (“frigging”) Delaware (see “The Longest Day” from “The Big Row” blog…or book). But, hey, if this was easy, everybody would be doing it, right?


Of course, friend Brian himself has offered up the specter of “The Ultimate Big Row”: start at Duluth, the westernmost point on the Great Lakes, and row home. Retire, Brian, and I’m in if we do this together. Would you expose that perfect cedar boat of yours to the rigors of the expedition? Maybe more accurately, would I permit you to do so? My rough calculations suggest that we’d have to throw the boats in the water at the moment the ice is clear in Duluth and row like mad all summer and fall to beat the season. I also think it’s likely that Peg and Cecile might have strong opinions on this option.


Or, perhaps you have some thoughts? I’m open to suggestions….


Well, thanks for reading, Gentle Reader. Maybe there’s another blog comin’, but this may well be it. Let me know, OK?


Thanks for being in the boat with me! And remember…822 West Lake Avenue. Ink is light.

Latah!

Mr. Frei