When weekend reporter duties are fun

During my eight months of working at the Faribault Daily News, one of the duties I've come to look forward to is that of being the weekend reporter.

As you can probably guess, it was a
good idea to wear swim trunks
while taking photos of this.

Because we're a relatively small daily paper, the task of weekend reporting rotates around the news room from week to week, with my turn coming about every six weeks. When that happens, my jobs is typically to cover some sort of live event on Saturday, write a story for Sunday's paper and be prepared for any spot news that might come up.

Most of my co workers approach weekend reporter duties with the same enthusiasm one would have with doing their taxes. So very little, if at all.

It's not that they hate the work (that wouldn't bode well for the career choice). It's more so because it involves having to do that work on a day where they'd rather be relaxing away from the office. After a hard week of work, it's nice to enjoy some R&R for the weekend.

While I agree with that mindset, it doesn't stop me from anxiously scanning the daily budgets to see what my assignment will be when my turn comes up for weekend reporter. Even if it's something as mundane as taking weather photos for unseasonably warm temperatures -- yes, that actually happened once -- I usually get pretty excited about it.

As a copy editor and page designer, my job is mostly confined to the office. I get the stories from reporters, I place them on the page and I try to make the newspaper look as appealing (and error free) as possible. It's enjoyable work because I get to utilize my creativity and knack for design, but it gets to be a little monotonous at times.

Weekend reporter assignments represent a break from that monotony. Instead of being cooped up in the office, it gets me out "in the field" and gives me a chance to work on skills -- writing, photography, interviewing, etc. -- that normally don't get a lot of practice. I went to college for print journalism with the intent of being a writer and though I think I made the right career choice, I still miss writing on a regular basis (as the 200+ entries on this blog would indicate).

Most of the reporter assignments are relatively forgettable. However, every once in awhile you get to cover something that's pretty cool. Last Saturday was a perfect example of that, as my editor Jaci Smith sent me to report on a group of kayakers known as the River Ramblers who were doing a paddle down the Cannon River from Faribault to Dundas.

Now, even to the average reporter, kayaking would be a fun thing to cover. Water sports in general are pretty photogenic, plus groups like the River Ramblers are usually more than happy to give a few quotes.

For me though, the event took on an added level of enthusiasm. As mentioned in a previous post, I recently bought a kayak and have been making regular trips to Faribault-area lakes to break in my new toy. It's turned into a multi-faceted activity of sorts for me. I get some fresh air, I do a little exploring, I get a good workout and if I bring my fishing rod with, I can get a few casts in as well. I've always been a fan of kayaking, but owning one has helped take that interest to another level.

The one hindrance so far has been the lack of a second vehicle to make river trips possible. There aren't any established kayaking clubs in Faribault and I don't know anybody in the area who's into the sport, plus I feel it would be rude to ask a coworker or friend to pick me -- and my kayak -- up at the end point of a trip when they didn't get to enjoy the trip themselves.

Kayaking isn't like cycling where you can do long trips by yourself without any assistance. There's a dependency aspect of it you need to adjust to, a difficult task when you're used to being self-reliant like I am. My hope is to do a multi-day trip down the Cannon River this fall, but unless I get to know a few other kayak enthusiasts in the area, it'll be difficult to pull that off.

Getting a chance to interview the River Ramblers was at least a slight step forward in that regard. None of the group members kayaking on Saturday were from the Faribault area (killing my local angle) and the River Ramblers only kayaks the Faribault portion of the Cannon River once a year (their schedule can be seen here). Still, it was nice to meet other enthusiasts of the sport and it gave me further encouragement that a trip down the Cannon River would be both very possible and very scenic (they do a second trip on the river near Welch as well).

The reporting assignment might also be a precursor to future kayak trips. I had to resist the urge to join the River Ramblers on their trip to Dundas on Saturday (I was on the hook for copy editing duties that night as well), but if I have a weekend available in the near future, I will definitely look into doing a trip with them. It solves my transportation dilemma and gives me a chance to explore other rivers, plus it makes kayaking a shared experience, which is always more enjoyable.

So in summary, my weekend reporter duties resulted in a decent story in last Sunday's paper and a possible connection to a group that will help me get more enjoyment out of a new hobby of mine. I call that a fun assignment.

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Important note to my coworkers: Please do not perceive this as an open invitation to dump your weekend assignments on me. I enjoy reporting from time to time, but not as much as I enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays.

That's a paddlin': Musings from a proud kayak owner

There's always a feeling of excitement that comes with buying a new toy, whether it be an e-reader, a bicycle or a paintball gun.

My new kayak. We're going
to have some fun.

When you take that toy out of the box for the first time, all the trouble you went through to get it -- saving money, doing research, convincing a significant other that you need it -- becomes totally worth it. Instead of thinking about all the fun you could have with that toy, it turns into thinking about all the fun you WILL have with said item.

If the new toy is an e-reader or a Playstation, you're loading your favorite books on it and picking out your favorite games. If it's a fishing boat or a motorcycle, you're planning trips and figuring out how to customize it as your very own. Whatever the case, you can't wait to try it out and you're excited for the enrichment it will bring to your life.

That excitement pretty much sums up the last couple weeks for me, as I have finally made a purchase that has long been on my list of things to get: I bought a kayak. Or more specifically -- after all, I've written not one, but two blog entries about its inflatable counterpart -- I bought a REAL kayak.

The price was definitely right. A friend of my brothers was looking to unload one of the kayaks he owned and didn't want to go through the effort of selling it on eBay. My brother thought about snatching it up for himself, but after hearing how much use I got out of his inflatable kayak, he generously informed me of his friend's intent and asked me if i wanted it for the cool price of $40. I said "yes" about as quickly as the time it took John Belushi's "Animal House" character to polish off a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Paddle sports in general have always appealed to me. I had the good fortune of both growing up near a river and having a father who enjoyed making wood-strip canoes in his free time. Canoe trips were a regular occurrence in my youth, whether they be multi-day trips up to the Boundary Waters, or short day paddles on Elk River in our backyard. I loved the feeling of being of being on the enjoyed and welcomed the serenity of the setting.

In my adult life, kayaking always seemed like it would be an ideal activity for me. It offers the same serenity as canoeing, only without as much hassle. The boats are smaller, they're a little easier to carry and they don't require a second person to use -- a key point with an odd schedule like mine. If you live close to water and you're so inclined, you can squeeze in a quick kayaking session even in the busiest of days.

It really ties the room together

Now that I finally have a kayak to call my own -- and found the perfect hanging spot for it above the dinner table in my apartment, see second photo -- I've been getting plenty of use out of it. I've taken it out a few times on Cannon and Roberds lakes near Faribault and I'm already plotting a few ambitious trips with it. Among them include:

• Doing a two-day float on the Cannon River from Faribault to Red Wing and hopefully bribing my friend, a recent sportswriter hire at the Red Wing Republic, into driving me back to Faribault (I can pay handsomely in home-brewed beer, Joe)
• Attempting a Boundary Waters trip with my brothers
• Taking it out for a day on the Chain of Lakes area in the Twin Cities, a beautiful area of the metro that strikes a seemingly impossible balance between nature and urban
• Doing the row-ride-run triathlon in Winona, a race that I'm convinced was tailor-made for people like me (translation: people who aren't good at swimming)
• Trying it out on some real rapids, either in Wisconsin (for an easier trip) or Colorado (once I get good at it)

I'm sure other ideas will come to mind as well. That's usually the way it goes when you have an exciting new toy to play with.

This is going to be fun.