On Mondays, I never go to work / On Tuesdays, I stay at home / On Wednesdays, I never feel inclined ? Work is the last thing on my mind
On Thursdays, it’s a holiday! ? And Fridays I detest ? Oh it’s much too late on a Saturday
And Sunday is the day of rest – TMBG
We all know, paddling is an addiction, but to be fair, there are days. You wouldn’t think it would ever seem like a challenge to paddle a couple of miles in the morning, but it can be. Not because it’s hard or because you’re facing the rage of the wild seas or whatever, but because we’re human. Just the simple act of dragging your hide outside and schlepping your kayak to the beach on a cold, windy morning can be a challenge to overcome.
I’ve just completed day 13 of my hundred mile paddle around Devil’s Lake . I had to take a few days off due to a minor physical issue, but yesterday I was back at it. I returned again this morning to a clear blue sky and noticed my hands getting a bit numb from the morning cold. It’s that time of year! I have to get out on the water early, about 7:30am during the week so that I can get home and on to my regular life without letting my little paddling foray get in the way. After getting up and getting my son off to school there are days when I’m not quite sure I’m awake yet when I arrive on the beach. Most mornings though, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.
It’s a funny thing. When you do a long trip, days or weeks at a time, your mindset is different. You’ve set yourself up to be wherever you are and paddling each day simply, “is”. When you’re only few minutes from home and don’t necessarily have to paddle each day, it becomes an issue of mind over preoccupation. It’s easy to let the day’s stresses bend your thinking and let the devil on your shoulder say, “Hey, you can do it tomorrow.”. You find yourself thinking of the work you still have to do that day or remembering you need to stop off at the store on the way home.. Blah, blah, blah… But to be fair, the clock is ticking. If I don’t get out there pretty darn regularly now, I’ll be dealing with ice in no time. Not that I mind the ice, really. Honestly, I’d rather paddle in wind, rain, and snow anyway.. but there is only so much time left before I simply won’t be able to get to the water!
One thing this little quixotic adventure has reminded me, is that when we’re teaching each year, we need to be patient with our students, even when we see them coming back to classes or symposiums year after year and they seem like they are not moving along as quickly as we may have. They are not career paddlers. They have to slip paddling in around all the stuff they do in real life just to keep family together and to pay the mortgage. The fact that they come back year after year and drop the sort of cash they do for classes, symposia, gear or whatever means they must really love paddling. We have to do everything we can to make sure, when the can get out, they are getting everything they want out of it. For what it’s worth…
On Thursdays, it’s a holiday! ? And Fridays I detest ? Oh it’s much too late on a Saturday
And Sunday is the day of rest – TMBG We all know, paddling is an addiction, but to be fair, there are days. You wouldn’t think it would ever seem like a challenge to paddle a couple of miles in the morning, but it can be. Not because it’s hard or because you’re facing the rage of the wild seas or whatever, but because we’re human. Just the simple act of dragging your hide outside and schlepping your kayak to the beach on a cold, windy morning can be a challenge to overcome. I’ve just completed day 13 of my hundred mile paddle around Devil’s Lake . I had to take a few days off due to a minor physical issue, but yesterday I was back at it. I returned again this morning to a clear blue sky and noticed my hands getting a bit numb from the morning cold. It’s that time of year! I have to get out on the water early, about 7:30am during the week so that I can get home and on to my regular life without letting my little paddling foray get in the way. After getting up and getting my son off to school there are days when I’m not quite sure I’m awake yet when I arrive on the beach. Most mornings though, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. It’s a funny thing. When you do a long trip, days or weeks at a time, your mindset is different. You’ve set yourself up to be wherever you are and paddling each day simply, “is”. When you’re only few minutes from home and don’t necessarily have to paddle each day, it becomes an issue of mind over preoccupation. It’s easy to let the day’s stresses bend your thinking and let the devil on your shoulder say, “Hey, you can do it tomorrow.”. You find yourself thinking of the work you still have to do that day or remembering you need to stop off at the store on the way home.. Blah, blah, blah… But to be fair, the clock is ticking. If I don’t get out there pretty darn regularly now, I’ll be dealing with ice in no time. Not that I mind the ice, really. Honestly, I’d rather paddle in wind, rain, and snow anyway.. but there is only so much time left before I simply won’t be able to get to the water! One thing this little quixotic adventure has reminded me, is that when we’re teaching each year, we need to be patient with our students, even when we see them coming back to classes or symposiums year after year and they seem like they are not moving along as quickly as we may have. They are not career paddlers. They have to slip paddling in around all the stuff they do in real life just to keep family together and to pay the mortgage. The fact that they come back year after year and drop the sort of cash they do for classes, symposia, gear or whatever means they must really love paddling. We have to do everything we can to make sure, when the can get out, they are getting everything they want out of it. For what it’s worth…
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