Wasted Energy? Or not.
Stretch forward. Pull to the hip. Slide out. Slice through the air. Stretch forward. Pull to the hip.
Repeat. Again and again.
Dipping a paddle into and through water, swinging it forward through the air as droplets tinkle on the water’s surface is my happy place. Even when the world tilts sideways. Especially when the world tilts sideways.
You can tell an experienced paddler 🛶 from a novice by their stroke. Casual canoeists skip the all-important stretch towards the bow of the boat - and engaging core muscles to avoid a sore back at the end of the day❗️They also tend to push their paddle past their hips, which does little to propel the canoe towards its destination. From the hip and back - to wherever the paddle comes out of the water - is all wasted energy. The power in a forward stroke is all between where the paddle enters the water and the hips. ⚡️ Finding the sweet angle for the blade to enter and exit the water is also key.
Campers aged 9 to 11 are out on the pristine Green River Reservoir (GRR), having paddled everything they need for survival out to a remote campsite. Their experienced counselors guided them safely. They set up camp and weathered three waves of thunderstorms ⛈ that passed in the night. I stood in the shelter of my screen-porch, welcoming the splatter while watching the deluge.
These camp counselors have handled way worse. Water Wanderings campers and counselors successfully navigated the July 10th flooding* that devastated Vermont the last two summers. This sweet camp is now in full swing, for its last year of operation. My daughter - the founder and executive director - moved out of state and park policies now prevent its operations at GRR. After 10 years, it's time to let it go. “Bittersweet” is the word that cycles through my mind as I contemplate this change.
When I returned home from the annual ICSA conference, I had not yet heard the news. Flash flooding in TX erased Camp Mystic. 🌊The river climaxed, rising 26 feet over its banks, and claiming 30 or more campers in the unimaginable.
A similar unimaginable event happened in Western North Carolina and is likely to happen again. And again.
How do we respond? When is it appropriate to pull up stakes and cast a wider net? A different net? What is the way through to maintaining sanity and integrity in these complicated, relentless times?
I go back to writing ✍🏼 and discovering where my words will take me. Today, they are reminding me of the years I spent as a counselor coaching kids and adults to Stretch forward. Pull to the hip. Slide out. Slice through the air. Stretch forward. Pull to the hip. Repeat.
Even when the world tilts sideways. Especially when the world tilts sideways.
We write. Fridays at 10 am.
