TheBanyanTree: the river - yesterday

[Sachet]

Tubing was fantastic fun and sooooooooooooo relaxing. Well, after I 
slammed my shoulder and back into the rock shelf it was very relaxing. 
That kinda stung. But the water was cold enough to feel soothing and I 
got dunked enough afterwards to stay wet, so that helped.


I learned a lot today. For instance,  I now know that I prefer kayaking 
to tubing because there isn't much control involved with tubing. You can 
paddle with your hands and kick with your feet as hard as you want, but 
if you're caught in the current, you will be thrown wherever the river 
wants to toss you and you will experience repeated moments of realizing 
that what is ahead of you is either going to be outstanding fun or hurt 
like hell. I knew it was going to be the latter with my shoulder as it 
was happening, because just as I went over the small waterfall I saw the 
rock shelf underneath me and was at least able to twist sideways so I 
didn't land on my face. So when my back and shoulder slammed down and 
then slowly scraped over the rocks I remember the intensity of the pain 
and then the utter relief when the intensity lessened and I could catch 
my breath enough to realize that nothing was broken. I knew I was 
bleeding, but since Virginia rivers don't have alligators, I wasn't very 
worried.

It took a few years for me to relax around rivers, ponds and lakes in 
North Carolina and Virginia after having it so deeply ingrained to 
always be on the look out for gators when near any fresh water in 
Florida. Today I saw logs and didn't have to take another look to make 
absolutely sure that it was indeed just a log. I like that absence of 
necessary awareness. A lot in fact. <g>

I quickly learned how to read the signs of submerged rock shelves, since 
pain is a superlative teacher, and then I had a tremendous amount of fun 
figuring out how to aim and shoot through a set of rapids without 
getting stuck or slamming into anything. Mainly, I concluded that Class 
II rapids really require more than a floating tube to safely navigate. I 
didn't like wondering what was going to hit me from below if I didn't 
continually arch up and keep my backside from dipping down lower than 
the tube. Kinda awkward that.


But the view.

Wow.

Amazing.

Mountains, cliffs, forests, wild geese, the sounds of the river and 
solitude.


And now I'm feeling that unique sense of relaxation that comes from 
spending the day outdoors doing something fun.


....Sachet

Pics at: http://www.myspace.com/alphabutterfly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_(Kanawha_River)