There are minutes and there are moments...
With this hot weather we're having it's wonderful to get out on a lake and paddle. It's a truly spiritual thing.
"There's no doubt about it: canoes are tippy, but that's the best part about them. As long as the paddler is obliged for reasons of self-preservation to think about balance, five minutes in a canoe can be an eternity. But after a mile or ten on open water, after a floating meal or two and maybe the odd unplanned swim, responsibility for balance shifts from the conscious to the unconscious, trickling down to a place where I imagine the soul to be.
This suspension between water and sky is in one of the most reassuring affirmations of being alive in an uncertain world. The movements of a paddler emanate from memories kept in the body, moving the craft and the person as if one, leaving the conscious mind free to look beyond..."
Excerpt from TUMBLEHOME: Meditations and Lore from a Canoeist's Life. Copyright James Raffan 2001
I bought this beautifully written little book a number of years ago at an event where Mr. Raffan autographed it for me. Is it any wonder to this day I still pick it up and read it. I think he easily articulates the challenges and joy of all canoeists.
A perfect sunset!
here is where I shall come, saying nothing,
no voice, no mouth, pure,
here I shall be again the movement
of the water, of
its wild heart,
here I shall be both lost and found ---
Pablo Neruda