Essentials

The kids with me shot through the rapids fine, and I followed with no trouble except for momentary cardiac fibrillation. However, the double kayak in our group hit a large rock sideways and the water washed over the two novice kayakers, filling the boat, and dumping them out. The guide shot over in his kayak and told them to just float with the current keeping their feet up. I kayaked near them as they bobbed like corks in the refreshing water of the Catawba. It took the guide twenty minutes to free the boat, dump the water out, and retrieve the human corks. He lost his glasses in the process. This is why one should never kayak alone.

There were only two sets of rapids on the section we kayaked, but I am not sure I would want to do it if I were the only adult. Later as the guide was walking with me back to my car, he asked if it had been fun for someone who had as much experience as I did kayaking.
"Oh yes," I said, "I would not have wanted to do those rapids alone with the kids. I mean most of the time, nothing goes wrong...but look what happened to the tandem kayak. What if I had been alone with the kids and that happened?"
"Things can happen," he nodded.

While the kids had a great time, they all found the flat water sections somewhat dull, and wished there had been more rapids. I enjoy the thrill of not smashing my skull against the rocks, but my favorite part of kayaking is the peaceful, flat water surrounded by wildlife one might not ordinarily see from the living room recliner. That is as much excitement as I can handle. We saw several herons and osprey. Bald eagles live along the river, along with mink and foxes, but we didn't see them this trip. It was a beautiful after dinner glide down a sparkling, swift river.

Afterwards, I settled back in the car with relief. One dream fulfilled and the entire group in my charge would be returned whole to their parents. I was glad I had done it, and I was glad it was over without mishap.

Now the craziness begins. I have a room covered with all the things I need to pack for the wedding trip to Virginia Sunday. We are staying a week at a condo on a lake, and have to bring all the linens, towels, soap, toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher liquid, laundry detergent, wedding clothes, and of course the two very large boxes of the very specific vases I picked up at the mother of the bride's request. Then, there are the 6 kayaks. 3 are single person inflatables, 1 is a tandem inflatable, and must fit in the car.The two hard shells can go on top of the car. Of course to go with the kayaks, I need to pack 7 life jackets, 7 sets of oars, an anchor, wetbags, watershoes, locks, and emergency kits. Then naturally, we need to pack games for all the cousins to play, and there is some talk of packing the Wii and the rock band guitars. This pile of necessities is now sprawled like a homicide across the floor. Shooting the rapids is child's play compared to the daunting task of fitting all this in our car.

Funny how much is needed to survive just one week away from home. When I was younger, Arvo my husband and I bicycled across the country. We carried everything we needed for three months on the back of our bikes. I still remember how I vowed that I would always remember how little I really needed, and try to live like that for the rest of my life. Moses and the Israelites traveled 40 years in the desert and all they needed, God provided. He sent manna from heaven, and when they tired of that, He sent them quail. He produced water from the rocks to quench their thirst, and parted the sea so they could journey unhindered on dry land.

I looked at the pile of essentials spewed across my floor. I remembered the peaceful flow of the river lapping at my kayak, and the osprey circling overhead, and thought of the refrain from a song we sing in church, "All we have needed, you have provided."

Deuteronomy 2:7
 ⁷ The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

Dog Days and Defying Death

Word to the wise- when it is 100 degrees out, with 100 % humidity, watching events on a baked open field with not one scintilla of shade is not all that much fun.

Nonetheless, when we saw that the white water center was hosting Dog Days, complete with dogs kayaking, we felt we should go watch. Perhaps they could show us what kind of anchors a kayak needs. The first 5 minutes were fun, watching our friend and mentor Polly running her amazing dog in an agility and flyball demo. However, heat stroke set in on the 6th minute, and by the 7th minute, we were afraid Jesus had come again, and left us behind to that other place. We love dogs, but we had to escape and seek shade. The dog water activities weren't due to happen for 2 hours yet, and we were already feeling like those earthworms baked on the asphalt after a summer rain and drought.

So we sought shade along the White water "river"- man made rapids that people pay a lot of money to ride floating coffins on and see how far their eyeballs can bulge out of their head should they happen to survive.

"That looks fun!" said Asherel.

Ohoh. I detect another motherly sacrifice along the lines of those snowboarding escapades I made in the winter. Dotted every few feet along the banks were rescue people. Each carried a rope and hauling human device, as well as a variety of emergency supplies. There were also several expert kayakers planted at the edge of each terrifying swirl of rapids, and each time a new floating coffin of victims would loom on the horizon, they would tense and hold paddles ready to race after the unfortunates tossed overboard by the raging water.

"Fun?" I squeaked.

As we watched, some body went sailing through the air and splashed into the torrent. Rescue people sprinted to the person being tossed like popcorn down stream. Several threw lines like lassos and hauled her in. She rose shakily and climbed with their assist out of the water. She bent to examine the bruises and cuts.

"Let's bring our DI team here and do this for our party!" called out Asherel.

It is funny how young people do everything in their power to tempt death, and old people, with so much less to live for, become increasingly fearful. What is up with that? It seems so backwards. On par with all those crazy convoluted things in the Bible like "He died that I might live" or "unless ye be born again you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" or my personal favorite, "the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things."(Philippians 3:8) To gain what is best, we must lose everything else. I guess that is why we get wrinkles, and bending bones, and aching joints, and brittle grey hair, and body parts that drip like honey to the earth. Unless we lose all good things, maybe we don't long for the best. Maybe all those thrill seekers on those rapids know something I don't know. Until you depend on someone else to haul you out of the waters as they threaten to engulf you, you might not understand your own limits. Maybe some people honestly can't value life until they are about to lose it.

As we walked along the raging river to return to the car, another body was bounced off the boat and into the wild current.

"Fun!!!" shouted Asherel.
"Oy vay," I moaned.

2 Samuel 22:4-6 (New International Version)

⁴ I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵ "The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁶ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.