Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mas y mas aqua blanca!

Man o man.... I have been such a slacker with my blog. And, as I have previously set forth... this is how I had hoped to leave at least a slight record of my life. And really, all I can say is that life is good. I keep taking my beat downs coupled with new achievements in my Kayak. I continue to enjoy my job and Football. As Captain of Greenman Coed, the little team that could is having it's best season to Date and I am so proud to be a part of it. Greenman open is also doing well and as one of the old farts on the team I am happy to actually be wanted and needed in the success of that team. Jack of the Wood, my Over 30 team, has also had some great matches as of late and that warms my heart as well. I love the brothers and sisters that I get to share the pitch with. These are blessings in my life.
And now I must elaborate on the kayaking. I have two guys in particular that are taking me under their wing. They are Justin Doroshenko and Aaron Oswaldt. Both are quite good on white water and they are both so excited to watch me move forward as a paddler. I know so little, but I am learning fast. They keep me safe while I take my lumps. I love how they really get excited about my progress. Each new eddy out, each new clean line run on increasingly bigger water, every time I ferry across faster and chunkier sections of white water, each time a charge through a bigger hole, and even each time I eat it and then have another successful swim. With each of these guys I feel like they just kind of drifted away from running rivers, but they now find new joy in bringing a newbie along in the sport. I just love the challenge, and I think they love that I love it. A few weeks ago I did the French Broad at 4000 cfs and REALLY got my arse handed to me. I had 4 swims including one that started with a massive unintentional stern squirt at Kayaker's ledge. I feel that that day was a critical junction for me in the sport. Seeing as how I do not have any sort of Roll yet, when I get up-ended, it means that I must wet exit and swim. One of these swims took me though the bottom half of "ledges" which is the longest rapid on the French Broad. I also had a good swim on the last half of Pinball a few days ago. Sure, a swim is scary when you don't plan for it, but now I do it with composure and relative calm. The other thing that makes me and my mentors happy is that, in each of the last swims I first made some strong attempts to keep the boat upright before finally rolling upside down and ejecting. All these things are just marks of progress. When I look back at where I was this fall and what I knew it is so great to be where I am now. I hope that in another 6 months I can see that I am yet again nothing like what I was...

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