Streaming

I have not been in a kayak this season.  It is extremely odd for me, who has adopted this sport passionately for the past seven years or so.  It’s a strange and sometime uncomfortable feeling, this “not kayaking” thing.  And there are several reasons for it.

My son lives with me now, and this is a wonderful bonding experience, but one that leaves me little time to venture out for all day paddles, whether solo or with a group.  My son is not (yet) into paddling.  I spend time in two geographic locations now, and although each has its own kayaking waters, the divided time stretches my paddling time thin.  I have done more bicycling than I ever had in recent years, largely because I have a comfortable bicycle, a glorious 48 mile bike trail right out my door, and friends who share my joy for leisure bicycling.  And finally, I am truly spending time with a budding passion, writing. My computer time in my home office is budding, as is my output.  Those who know me have heard about this avocation for years, and they'd agree: it's refreshing to read something, finally.
 

When I look back at my favorite paddling website, one which I have posted frequently in past years, not only has it lost some luster for me, but the names of the paddlers who get together are different than those from “my day”, only a year or two ago.  Life moves on, and even those that paddle in my favorite waters bear unfamiliar names to me now.  A new group, learning the sport than once occupied my mind obsessively, plies my home waters.

I will return to kayaking, and I will return to it in earnest.  I will one day slow down at work, and my son will move on to college, marriage and family.  My love of the water, being on it and in it, will be reborn, of this I have no doubt.  I will have the time to travel to adventures that are far from my home and meet up again with those that have been my paddling partners over the years, and those that I have not even met yet, who will be paddling friends of the future.  

 

It truly amazes me how life moves on, like the flowing of a stream; the stream stays static when viewed from afar, but is very fast when closely examined.  Today, I thought about the stream of life. My life.  Mid-stream.