The further I get in writing these memoirs, the more I realize that nearly all of our "adventures" have been the result of stupidity on my part. Most of them could have been avoided by asking a few questions in advance of acting. A prime example is the Adirondack canoe trip I planned for Don's Spring vacation.

Although we live no more than a day's drive from the Adirondack mountains, we never visited them. One Spring when my son was in high school, I conceived the idea of taking our canoe and some camping gear, and spending a week in his Spring vacation canoeing the mountain lakes and streams. Balmy breezes were blowing, green leaves budding, apple blossoms blooming as we drove off from Corning.

My stupid mistake was in assuming that the mountain climate was not much different from Corning! We took cheap uninsulated sleeping bags and no blankets, not wishing to overload the canoe. We had planned to spend overnight at a motel on the way (in fact I had promised Don's mother we would, because he had a case of hives). However, we learned that the motels weren't open. This should have alerted me that something was wrong.

When we finally arrived at a streamside campsite about one A.M., we were met by a horrible surprise. The stream was invisible under a coat of ice and snow, the ground frozen rock-hard. It was almost impossible to pound the tent stakes through the ice. We couldn't sleep in our flimsy sleeping bags, because it was so cold.

Next morning, we drove back to warmer climates in search of liquid water. We did our canoeing on the canal leading north from Cayuga Lake through the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, looked for wild geese and turkeys and had a good time anyway.

Come to think of it, I'd have missed a lot of adventures if I'd been smarter!