For the Love of Sports: Kayaking Inspiration

Thursday Vibes, Thursday Morning for Women Entrepreneurs and Women Who Love Sports

Glass is an unnoticeable entity unless you are missing it from a window. I dare say the sense of glass is most noticeable on early summer lake mornings when the tiniest ripples are ever so slightly seen.

Growing up on Lake Delta,  I witnessed within a year, summer, day and even hour how the changing of the wind speed and direction occurs multiple times during the day as I sat on my dock watching it; so early morning lake time was always best for water activities.

The beauty of kayaking with a light weight plastic solo boat is particularly breathtaking on harmonious mornings when the wind is dead, except for a bare moment of time when God knows you need a splash of it to refresh, and then there it is. Gliding along on water’s top edge as yellow-bellied carp jump up to catch flies for breakfast, black birds dip and dive to catch the same flies, and white cottonwood fluffs drift down gently to settle on the water without sinking, is a reason to take up kayaking.

Other times, like with my friend Stacey Murphy, you can kayak on a wild, windy day where the waves are more like ocean-size ones pushing you back rather than forward, giving hearts and arms an excellent workout and spirits an adventure. Never fearful of falling in, you just “ride with it” until you pass the high watery peaks or decide to relent and head into the river, that feeds the lake, onto calmer surfaces. But what fun is that really when unexpected turbulence leads to belly laughter and water-soaked clothes?

What I love most about kayaking, or any boating for that matter, is the freedom I feel on the surface of water, as if my body which is made up of more water than substance resides peacefully there. Whether it was sailing by myself in high school or now kayaking alone or with others, there is a tranquility to the experience every time.

This morning I kayaked much farther than I first imagined as the beauty of the glide and peacefulness of being alone doing something athletic propelled me further. Only when my arms and shoulders got tired after an hour did I turn around to go back regretting the decision as soon as I made it. Where else would I find harmony like this in my day?

I knew the answer as I lifted my kayak onto solid ground and carried its heavy weight back to my car. There wouldn’t be the exact feeling unless I wrote about the experience to inspire others to try this peaceful sport along nature’s finest waterways where they can find harmony themselves.