River Rat

For the last couple of weeks I have been wanting to get in the water. I wanted to do something new and different. I thought about tubing a river, but we are having a drought meaning water levels are low. I have been tubing before when the water level was low and you had to carry the tube, not so fun. I have been visiting with several people who have encouraged me to go rowing and pick it up as a sport. I agree it would be a good form of exercise for me. After a bit of research I found it is one of the fastest growing sports. I guess that's how they get away with charging $125 for lessons. I can't swing that for lessons alone.

I began visiting with a neighbor and decided to go kayaking. I went Sunday after having taken comprehensive exams Saturday. It was perfect. My neighbor was the best person for me to go with on my first trip out. He was not too intimidating and knew enough to give me some instruction. He makes for a great teacher. I didn't feel belittled or like an idiot in any way. I had a lot of fun and even before I was finished was looking forward to doing it again. We went to a local rowing dock off of the local river. It's not a fast moving river but it's wide enough to accommodate quite a few people in various boats.

On the day we were out on the river there were people in kayaks, canoes and sculling boats. There were lots of sculling boats. They are fast and expensive. They were the only rowers who row backwards. There was lots of wildlife to see. There were several kinds of egrets, turtles and fish. The friend I went with was good at spotting the wildlife. Maybe I was too busy concentrating on my paddle stroke and keeping dry.

Once we finished our adventure we sat on the dock to watch all the flurry of activity. There is a sculling competition next weekend, July 4. Those who compete get to stay in the water and watch the fireworks, which are shot off from the water. Lots of people were preparing for that competition. We also so various kayaks. We saw one guy and his Labrador on a a standing kayak, so he looks like the guys in Venice, Italy. We saw several families in kayaks like the one I rented. Then we saw some in racing kayaks. Those are "tippy" and require more core strength than I currently have. The racing kayaks look like a kazoo, the music instrument you put in your mouth and make whistle. It requires a lot of core strength to keep it up right and keep it from tipping and to keep it on a straight course.

This past week has been a scorcher. The temperatures have ranged close to and above 100 degrees. It is not cooling much at night either. Being in and on the water offers some reprieve from the heat. I was looking forward to my next kayaking adventure and decided at the last minute to go again this weekend. It was fun. I'm more comfortable in the kayak and in the water. This time I said I would kayak out 45 minutes and then paddle back 45 minutes. That would give me a judge to see how far I could go and then measure it again periodically to see how I am improving.

What are you doing to stay cool during the hot weather?