TheBanyanTree: hooky

[Sally Larwood]

I was there with you, minus the strain of rowing.  Beautifully written. Thankyou for sharing Julie.

Sal 

Sent from my iPad 

On 25/10/2012, at 3:31, "Teague,  Julie Anna" <jateague at indiana.edu> wrote:

> I had to call in sick at work for part of this morning.  It was the most amazing weather this morning: sunny and 65, with an unseasonal high in the 70's today.  The trees are at peak color.  I decided I had to get out on the lake and row.  Had to.  Days like this are not meant to be spent in dark office spaces.  I got out there early, scattering deer into the woods, and spread a blanket on a hill next to the rowing clubhouse overlooking the lake. The sun was just coming up, turning the sky pink and purple and casting big rays of purple and orange out across the lake water. Cabin and dock lights flickered here and there around the lakefront.  A speed boat went by, creating ripples across the surface that cut the lake into ribbons, like Venetian blinds, of dark water and sun struck water. I could've sat there all day.  One of those moments in life when I could've died happy, right then and there.
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> The other three rowers showed up and we decided to take out two doubles instead of the big quad shell.  A double is about the trickiest boat to row.  A quad is heavier, sits lower in the water, and is much more stable with eight oars on the water.  A single relies on just one person staying balanced and going at their own speed and is much easier to turn.  A double requires both people to remain balanced and perfectly in sync.  If one stroke is off sync, or one person zigs when the other zags, the boat can go over quite easily.  For a novice like myself, it requires such earnest concentration.  Plus I'd just attended a rowing clinic, given by the most experienced members of the club, Rudy and Kay, this past Saturday, so I was trying to work on some things that they pointed out to me.  So this morning, it required almost exhausting concentration to focus on all those things together, all the while with the most magnificent sky blazing up all around me, the trees on the surrounding hills all lighting up in the sunshine and burning brilliant red and yellow and orange, and all of this reflected on the glassy, still water.  Lake breeze in my hair.  Pleasant companion and fun banter.  Free from time constraints.  No worries. Heaven.
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