With Paul away at school, Holly is enjoying some extra doting from her parents (and we’re enjoying doing it).
A couple weeks back, she lamented that we never go on hikes. So…we went hiking.
After the hike, I asked her if there was any other activity that she’d like to do and she didn’t hesitate. She said she wanted to go canoeing. I said “Sure.”
We did a little research and found out that River Sports Outfitters has a place at The Cove and rents all sorts of watercraft at The Cove park - Canoes, Kayaks, and Paddleboats.
So, on an absolutely beautiful Saturday morning, yesterday, we went to The Cove, rented a canoe, and before you can say Teddy Roosevelt, we were paddling around on the water. Since we were rookies, I was a bit worried we might wind up in the water. I am happy to report, however, we did not ‘tip a canoe.’ (Ahem).
Holly had been canoeing once before; I was a novice. I had spent some time in many other types of boats - my dad’s family, having grown up on the banks of the Mississippi, were always boating on The Big Muddy. So, I had, at least a rudimentary knowledge of how things work (at least enough to stay mostly dry).
Holly did the steering; I did the paddling. And, if I do say so, we did pretty well for a couple newbies. As I told her, it’s always fun to do something challenging and step out of your comfort zone a bit. Then, when it’s done you look back on the experience and feel your confidence grow.
I think that is a metaphor for the experience she is about to undertake as she returns to Europe next week. She’ll be a teaching assistant at a high school academy in France. She’ll be helping teach English to French teens.
She’ll be renting her own apartment, taking care of all the cooking and cleaning and bill-paying. She’ll be working at a professional job. It’s a dress rehearsal for a bit later on. And the thing is…she’ll be doing all of this in a different country.
I think she’ll have a wonderful experience. And when she returns to the states next spring, she’ll be proud of her accomplishments and the ability she has to stand on her own two feet.
As for our day on Saturday, it was great to be on the water. The air was crisp; the sky was electric blue. The water was still summer-warm.
We had great conversations on a number of topics. We made some great memories.
The paddling was challenging – especially against a stiff breeze and a strong current…but we made it safely back to shore after a couple hours on the water. If we felt a bit sore from the activity, so be it. That just helped us to remind ourselves of the great experience.
It would have been easy-enough to stay home, sit on the couch and just talk about doing something unique on a Saturday morning.
But we actually did it.
JG
Originally posted 9/16/2013
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