When The Pee Dee Post launched a year and two days ago, I had to promise myself not to get caught up in trying to cover everything.
I feel like I’ve succeeded but, believe me, trying to get to what I do cover is time-consuming enough. For that reason, I like to keep my kayak inside my office so whenever I have a spare block of time, I can take to the water. After all, Hitchcock Creek is only 0.76 miles from my office and the Pee Dee River is only a handful of minutes away to the nearest access.
Stephanie Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Josiah Spradlin takes the paddle and works his way back towards the dock at Hinson Lake – though not exactly in a straight line.
This afternoon, though, the focus was at Hinson Lake. It’s roughly 1.7 miles from the office. My third child, Josiah, is released from Roberdel Baptist School’s pre-k program at 11:30 a.m. So when my wife, Stephanie, told me that she was taking Josiah to Hinson Lake and meeting some friends there for a picnic, I did what I always do when I get a new event on my mind: I look at the clock.
Sure enough, I figured, if I allowed them enough time to eat, I could get some work done and then meet them over for a quick paddle. Not the spanking kind, mind you, but the old-fashioned aqua therapy that is paddling a kayak. Josiah (5 and don’t dare forget the one-half) hadn’t been on the water since March, and I learned soon enough that Parker (7), Ivey Lynn (3) and Ryan (3) had never been kayaking (though Parker and Ivey Lynn have a larger motorboat and, as Ivey Lynn noted, their boat could hold three people — and displaying nine fingers as she said this).
All the kids took turns running their fingers through the water as the kayak streamed through. The water was cool to the touch, cold even, and the conversation turned to how the fish and snakes stayed warm in such cool water. Ivey Lynn informed me water creatures were able to keep warm because the water warms up at night. I didn’t know that. And Josiah told me fish wear little jackets. I didn’t know that, either.
Stephanie Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Ryan Ferguson, 3, enjoys the back-and-forth rocking of the kayak.
Kayaking wasn’t the only activity, of course. The kids used small fish nets to catch what they could (that big one barely got away), threw rocks in the water, watched a family of a momma duck and her ducklings, a lone Canada Goose and a snake here and there. I took turns ferrying the younger ones out in my 10-foot Oldtown Vapor. It’s not a fancy ‘yak, but it does the trick.
While the rest of the gang, including Stephanie and our neighbor, Mary Ivey, were there for a couple hours or more, I had roughly 70 minutes at Hinson Lake — and just enough time to get back to the office and prepare for the next assignment.
This is why I work. I love covering the stories across Richmond County, offering local businesses affordable and effective advertising opportunities and meeting new people every single day, but I work so hard so I can play hard and enjoy with my family the great outdoors.
Stephanie Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
It was Parker Medlin’s first time in a kayak, but he was nearly a pro with the paddle.
What do you work for?
Kevin Spradlin is managing editor of The Pee Dee Post. He can be reached at 910-331-4130 or peedeepost@gmail.com.
Stephanie Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Ivey Lynn Medlin, 3, looks on as the shoreline becomes smaller and smaller at the start of her kayak adventure.
