Slow...start...

I can't seem to get it going this season.

The water is still stubbornly high in the Peace River

and I don't have much creek experience.

Plus, the temperature is cold!

I understand that 60ºF in Florida feels much more pleasant than the 9ºF that I just experienced when visiting family in Missouri, but it's still chilly when one is standing in water all day with a shovel.

I had to pull out my waders

to help maintain a functioning core temperature.

It seems like I just paid too much for these waders a year ago but I suppose it's been a bit longer as they are now worn out and no longer water proof.  

My high-end waders very quickly felt like a low-end wetsuit.

Not to mention, they don't have built in boots so I've been wearing them with a pair of thrift store Crocs (which I hate) that are emblazoned with the Indianapolis Colts logo (which I hate) and held onto my feet with bungee cords.  I had Miss Vickie take a photo for me so I can always remember the depths to which I've stooped.

Miss Vickie, meanwhile, has been feeling creative.

She gathered some fun slogans from the internet and made t-shirts for us rock hounds. 

She made this one for Pam although I think it applies more to her,

and this one for me.  I'm thinking of sporting it for the upcoming Fossil Fest.

We rolled our kayaks into position

on our last outing.

I rarely use my kayak trolly and Pam, Don, and Vickie didn't even own kayak trollies so there was a panicked flurry of Amazon orders and air compressors to try and get everything in working order.

The first time is always the hardest but we got it figured out.  Whenever I use my trolly, I remember why I don't use it often.  Muchos problemas...

After all was said and done,

we managed to shift some gravel.

Pam had the most interesting find of a white megalodon tooth.

I didn't find any megs, of course, but I had a good day finding small teeth.

Capybara in the house!

Mishmash here: horse incisor, crystalized scallop, a selection of corals and shell casts, a tiny bird bone, etc.

A sharp little gator tooth, shark tooth in matrix, and a piece of a tapir cap.

Glyptodont material and a tortoise spur.

Antler.

Plenty of turtle.

Ray mouth parts.

A handful of mammoth and mastodon bits.

Nothing fabulous but still, a good day's work.

For your continued reading pleasure, if you so choose, here's some info on hypothermia taken directly from Wikipedia.

Hypothermia is reduced body temperature that happens when a body dissipates more heat than it absorbs. In humans, it is defined as a body core temperature below 35.0 °C (95.0 °F).^[2] Symptoms depend on the temperature.^[2] In mild hypothermia there is shivering and mental confusion.^[2] In moderate hypothermia shivering stops and confusion increases.^[2] In severe hypothermia, there may be paradoxical undressing, in which a person removes his or her clothing, as well as an increased risk of the heart stopping.^[2]

Hypothermia has two main types of causes. It classically occurs from exposure to extreme cold.^[1] It may also occur from any condition that decreases heat production or increases heat loss.^[1] Commonly this includes alcohol intoxication but may also include low blood sugar, anorexia, and advanced age.^[1][2] Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F) through thermoregulation.^[2] Efforts to increase body temperature involve shivering, increased voluntary activity, and putting on warmer clothing.^[2][3] Hypothermia may be diagnosed based on either a person's symptoms in the presence of risk factors or by measuring a person's core temperature.^[2]

The treatment of mild hypothermia involves warm drinks, warm clothing, and physical activity.^[2] In those with moderate hypothermia, heating blankets and warmed intravenous fluids are recommended.^[2] People with moderate or severe hypothermia should be moved gently.^[2] In severe hypothermia, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or cardiopulmonary bypass may be useful.^[2] In those without a pulse, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is indicated along with the above measures.^[2] Rewarming is typically continued until a person's temperature is greater than 32 °C (90 °F).^[2] If there is no improvement at this point or the blood potassium level is greater than 12 mmol/liter at any time, resuscitation may be discontinued.^[2]

Hypothermia is the cause of at least 1,500 deaths a year in the United States.^[2] It is more common in older people and males.^[4] One of the lowest documented body temperatures from which someone with accidental hypothermia has survived is 13.0 °C (55.4 °F) in a near-drowning of a 7-year-old girl in Sweden.^[5] Survival after more than six hours of CPR has been described.^[2] For those for whom ECMO or bypass is used, survival is around 50%.^[2] Deaths due to hypothermia have played an important role in many wars.^[1] The term is from Greek ὑπο, ypo, meaning "under", and θερμία, thermía, meaning "heat". The opposite of hypothermia is hyperthermia, an increased body temperature due to failed thermoregulation.^[6][7]