Yee Ha, I'm in love. And I mean in addition to my long-term partner of human persuasion. My new honey causes pleasure and pain, but it's exercise and it's out of doors and for me that's 90% of the way to fun. I'm learning to whitewater kayak and am already hooked.
In late winter a friend started taking me to pool sessions and teaching me how to roll i.e. to right a kayak from upside down by performing an inarticulable motion involving your hips and a paddle. When performed correctly, after numerous near misses, you buoy up to the surface like a duck. Though during the near misses you generally come half way up, lift your head, and go straight back down again. Did I mention that it's helpful to be comfortable in the water before trying this?
Anyway it's been a few months and I'm in the full throes of a spring fling. Each time I go out on the water I see dramatic improvement, and it's truly a thrill to be on the steep part of the learning curve where you get better all the time, constantly inspired by the latest mental and/or physical break-throughs. Even better, I'm now surrounded by a new sub-culture of paddlers in all their exuberance and friendly quirks. Not to mention the sunset-colored hours spent on the river beneath pert green boughs, Great Blue Herons, and variously terrifying and invigorating spurts of moving water. Try a new sport. I must remember this antidote to all that is dullardly, grim, or routine.
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