I think I’m going to take up knitting. Or maybe I’ll revive my fly-tying skills. Something sedentary, less out there. That seems to be where it’s at these days.

In the week since I ventured to dip in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay, along with some 200 others, I’ve mentioned my experience to numerous folks I’ve encountered and the response has been universal – basically, “You gotta be nuts!”

I’m beginning to get a complex.

Wednesday I got a boost when I received an e-mail from Tess Ftorek, one of the coordinators of the Polar Dip series and former Washington County Community College Student Support Services Councilor. As of Friday $29,403 had been raised by dippers to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. And, Ftorek said, “the money is still rolling in. We will be accepting donations until we do the check presentation in a couple of weeks. It is so incredible and heartwarming for people from this poor county to give so much money at a difficult time of year. People truly dig deep and give from their hearts to help others. Of course the Passamaquoddy Tribe also not only digs deep financially but makes this event possible with support from the Public Works, EMS and Police Departments. They are just super.”

Relief from the cold

Last Saturday (after Friday’s dip) I stopped by the Cabin Fever Reliever event at the Old Town YMCA. I got there too late in the day to try out canoes in the pool, but I had time enough to wander through the exhibit room where fly tying ruled. There was a rod building display, a GPS and navigation exhibit by Central Maine Navigation, a snowshoe builder, a display by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and several others, but the 15 fly tiers were the order of the day.

Later I talked with NEWS colleague Don Corey who helped organize this first-year event. He said the 400 or so attendees over Saturday and Sunday exceeded expectations. Aside from exhibitors, there was a slate of lecturers including Joan Trial, a salmon biologist; Danny Legere of the Maine Fly shop in Greenville; Tammy and John Rogers of the Maine Outdoor Learning Center; Tenley Meara, Maine guide and dog trainer; Brian Theriault, a snowshoe maker; and speakers from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Conservation.

Wandering through the exhibitors’ tables made me want to get back into it and dust off my fly fishing equipment. The trouble is, fishing season and kayaking season conflict.

Fishing might make life around the water cooler a little easier though.

When I think back to the times I’ve spent fly fishing, I can’t think of any incredulous responses when I told anyone I was going fishing. Not like I get when I tell someone I’ve paddled somewhere on the ocean. Folks who fish always have a fish story (It’s pretty much the same – a fish, or a number of fish, or the size of a fish, or what the fish ate. It never seems to be about the enjoyment of the outdoors, the scenery, the fresh air, the clear water).

Flick on an “outdoor show” on the tube and it’s the same – fishing – and most of what you’ll be watching is a ghostly shadow under water and a rod bent over while the high-pitched voice-over squeals with glee, and the guide showers the rod holder with encouragement and gushes with wonderment over the exceptional size of the prize. And we sit there and watch it!

Tell someone you packed a lunch, a stove, and snowshoes and hiked through snowdrifts to the ocean’s shore at Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge in Steuben. Tell them you scavenged a fish tote for a table and set up your Crazy Creek on an ice shelf, then sat down and fixed a hot lunch while checking out the seascape for ducks. Tell them you spent a most relaxing hour enjoying the scenery and fresh air. See what you get for a response. Prepare not to be bowled over.

Now tell them you’re going fishing in June. I’ll bet you don’t get out of that water cooler conversation for at least 10 minutes – more if it involves a trolling motor and a 150 horsepower bass boat. Go figure.

Hot stove

Last Saturday morning I decided it was time to clear a path into my garage through a pile of returnables that has been growing for months. That involved numerous trash bags and a trip downtown. While I was there I decided to drop by Epic Sports to check out the storewide sale. You never know what you’ll find. Most likely it’ll be something you can’t live without – and there’s usually more than one item!

I poked around a bit and came to rest in front of the stoves. On the counter was a Jetboil “Personal Cooking System” demonstrator. It’s a self-contained unit that houses a tiny gas cylinder, a burner, and an insulated cooking cup with a quart capacity. The whole thing packs in a space slightly larger than a one-liter water bottle and tips the scales at 15 ounces.

What makes this stove different from others is its efficiency. Around the bottom of the cooking cup is an aluminum ring of fins (FluxRing) that direct the burner’s heat into the cooking cup and makes it 80 percent efficient as compared to 30 to 40 percent with other stoves. This cuts boiling time down, the maker claims, to 90 seconds for 16 ounces of water. The company says one 100-gram Jetpower canister will boil 12 liters of water.

I’ve read reviews of this unit and everyone raves about it. The more I talked with Rod Wiley, one of the sales associates at the store, the more I convinced myself that this was the time to buy one.

The first thing I did when I got it home was set it up (piece of cake) and boil some water. While it took longer than 90 seconds, it was fast, much faster than other stoves I’ve tried. One of these days I’ll set up a race among three canister stoves I have and see which one comes out on top.

As for convenience, the Jetboil has them all beat. Everything, including a Piezo igniter, is contained in the unit. If you forget matches or a lighter, no problem, open the gas and push the Piezo button and poof, you’re cooking!

Most amazing to me is the heat transfer. The cooking cup has a Neoprene cozy for insulation. You would think it would burn or melt being so close to the bottom of the cooking cup, but it doesn’t.

Wiley passed along a cooking hint that the factory representative had shown him. If you’re preparing a dehydrated meal, such as Mountain House beef stroganoff, which needs to steep for five to 10 minutes, simply heat a little more water than the two cups necessary to hydrate the food. Pour two cups into the plastic baggy and stir the food and leave a few ounces of hot water in the bottom of the cooking cup. Then put the bag inside the insulated cooking cup on top of the remaining warm water and pop on the cup’s lid. The insulation on the cup keeps things hot and in 10 minutes your meal is ready. Even after 20 minutes the food is still very hot (ouch!). I learned that on Sunday when I prepared stroganoff alfresco on the shore of Pigeon Hill Bay overlooking Bois Bubert Island.

Available accessories include additional cooking cups and a French press for making coffee.

On the company Web site (www.jetboil.com/Products), I found a bunch of meal and drink recipes such as 30 Second Hot Chocolate; Gayle’s Toddy; Homemade Instant Oatmeal; Jet Soup and Jet Soup with Dumplings; Cluck Cluck Couscous; Rice and Chicken, and a simple mussel recipe wherein you steam mussels in one cup of white wine and a garlic clove.

If I ever get my act together, I’ll be baking cinnamon buns in a reflector oven in front of a fire while fixing some one-pot gourmet meal in this rig and steaming some freshly picked mussels on another stove. Emeril Lagasse, watch out!

Heart Defect Awareness Day

This just in: The Perry-based foundation, Stronghearts, is promoting Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day (Feb. 14) at the second annual Winter Sport and Fun Day at Pottle Tree Farm beginning at 10 a.m. on Feb. 19. The event will held in remembrance of Seamus Duffy, the son of Perry residents Brian and Sue Duffy. Proceeds will go toward Stronghearts in its mission to support families caring for children with CHD. Last year Stronghearts donated more than $2,000 toward the Devon Nicole House in Boston. Congenital heart defects affect some 40,000 babies each year, about one of 100 births.

Saturday’s events include cross country skiing, winter walking around a labyrinth, snowshoeing, sledding, and skating as well as a cross country ski race. T-shirts are available for donations of $10 or more. The Pottle Tree Farm is on South Meadow Road in Perry. Call Stronghearts at 853-2774 for more information.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.