Elements...

Today is exactly the kind of day we're hoping we won't get on the trip coming up: cold and rainy. There is a worse kind of day, though, which all kayakers and canoers know; cold, rainy AND windy. This triple combo can really mess up your day! Traveling on the water cold and wet all day, plus being chilled by wind, can get you sick, so we're taking some precautions.

We're all getting a rainsuit (jacket and pants) that is completely waterproof and windproof, and as a plus just also happens to insulate. Triple-threat clothes for triple-threat weather! I picked mine up for $10 the other day, and gave it the best run-through test I could at the time: I put it on over my clothes and went in the shower with the water turned all the way cold! I only had a t-shirt and shorts on under it, but still stayed quite warm and dry. Oh, and this particular rain jacket has a waterproof hoodie as well; BIG PLUS!

One other waterproof item is a must; rubber boots. Good ol' cheapo rubber boots will work great to both keep out the cold and the water around our feet, and the rainproof pants can pull right over the tops of them. An extra item that I'm still debating on is waterproof gloves of some kind, though I wouldn't say that they're an absolute necessity.

Now, one problem with cheaper waterproof gear is most of the time they tend to insulate too much. The plasticy material that they're made our of keeps water and wind out because it pretty much keeps everything out. It also keeps everything IN on the inside, including your body heat, so that after a while it can feel like a sauna! Why not just buy some breathable waterproof gear, you might ask? There are two reasons: 1) all four of us are pretty much totally broke, and 2) we enjoy doing stuff with everyday, "average Joe" kind of gear, just to prove that the gear doesn't make the man, the man makes the gear. We might get a little sweaty,sure, but if we do end up putting on the gear mentioned above, then chances are that the weather is pretty nasty, and sweating would be preferred as opposed to facing the elements directly.

Quite honestly, I can't wait to be back on the River again! We've been planning this trip since summer of this year, and now that we're within a month of the start date, I'm definitely getting antsy!

Nature...

What is it about nature that draws us so much? This is a question that I ask myself almost daily. Maybe it's because in nature we find something very similar to ourselves; something that is living, moving, striving to grow to its full potential. In nature we find the unpredictability that is so characteristic of life, and with that unpredictability a sense of newness, of fresh beginnings, of freedom. These are things that many times are completely opposed to the artificial world in which we live. In our artificial world that we have created, everything is lifeless. TVs, microwaves, toasters, computers, cell phones; these things can't grow, they can't improve. Yet these are the things that we now use--that we now RELY ON--to exist.

Humans were made from the earth, and so they belong with the earth. I think that being out in nature connects us to something greater and more transcendent than ourselves; to that Source of life from which all life stems, from each blade of grass to every human. By our very nature, I believe we long for nature, because it reveals to us a part of ourselves.

-Daniel

The Blind, Deaf Stone...

There is a quote that I heard from Primo Levi, which says, "I also know how important it is in life...to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head..." When I first heard this quote, I didn't really think much of it, but in light of the many adventures I have had in the last several years, the true depth of these words has begun to sink in, and I think now I am beginning to understand them. There is a reason Levi chose the specific descriptions that he used. A stone is blind and deaf; in short, completely inanimate. How can you put on a show for such an audience; how can you make up some clever story to cover up mistakes or shortcomings? How can you reason your way out of a challenge, to get your audience to agree with you that, yes, there was nothing more that could be done on your part? You can't.

The "most ancient of human conditions" that Levi is speaking of is that place where we are faced with a great trial, and must find the strength within ourselves to overcome. When your only audience is a blind, deaf stone, you suddenly realize that there is no one else to blame; no one else to manipulate or persuade. YOU either rise to the task, or YOU fail.

Interestingly enough, it seems that "success" is judged here, not so much in respect to one's ability to wholly complete or not complete a specific task, but rather in one's ability to come to terms with themselves; to release blame and guilt from their lives and discover who they truly are, what they are truly made out of. And usually this is done through a trial. I have faced that "blind, deaf stone" many times in my life, and through these trips out on the River, I hope to face it many more times, because these encounters have forever transformed the way that I see everything in my life. I truly believe, like Levi did, that everyone must measure themselves at least once: beyond what people say or how they react, beyond the labels that others put on us. To strive, at least once, to give everything that is within us to give, and find if it is enough. This is when life truly begins.

Erospaynes...

I've had several people comment on the canoe oars that the guys and I are holding in our picture out on the dock, so if you're one of those people, here's the tale:

For several years now, I have hand crafted "Erospaynes" (pronounced "Arrow-spain), the Adrean name for "Long Oars". These oars are a unique design found only among the canoers of the Riverbluff League, and are given to the most experienced of us. They are designed to be strong, fast, and able to take quite a beating. As I said above, every single one is hand crafted, so no two are alike. They each have their own look, their own feel and, consequently, their own name.

Let's start on the right with Popeye. His oar is Thwaindoom, "Dare Catcher", made in the spring of this last year. Brandon's oar is Erovais, "New Oar", which was actually reshaped out of an older oar which belonged to David Heath. Along the neck is the inscription "Sethvie ain Thrior", which means "Born of the Storm", since it was completed as a thunder storm rolled in. Jesse's oar Vaross, "Water Flame", is the newest out of them all, and sports a new kind of decorative style; that plant motif along the blade glows green and aqua in the dark. My oar is Rendesyon, "Night Wing", and is the first and oldest of all the Riverbluff oars. Along its neck is the inscription "Inoss ais Dar"; "Even in Darkness".

Why use these oars instead of buying some from the store, or borrowing some used ones from a neighbor, you might ask. Don't we have regular canoe paddles in Riverbluff? Sure, we have plenty of your everyday paddles to go around here, but these long oars are better on two levels:

1)standard canoe paddles often warp or bend somewhat when you take a hard stroke through the water, which in turn shaves off some of the effectiveness of every stroke you take. Over the course of three hundred miles, it can make a big difference. Ultimately they bend or warp because most store-bought canoe paddles are not made to really handle rough-and-tough, day-in-day-out canoeing. On previous Riverbluff trips, we have broken both wooden and non-wooden "store-boughts", and it's usually when we needed them the most. Erospaynes don't bend, and they don't break...period. They are specifically designed for the long distance, high-endurance canoeing that we do here in Riverbluff.

2)from a less technical side, canoers develop a connection with an oar that is uniquely their own, and it becomes stronger and stronger the more they travel with it. My oar, Rendesyon, has carried me literally HUNDREDS of miles through just about every condition of the River you could hope to see, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

So there you have it, the story behind our oars. I must confess, however, that while I have the utmost confidence in my work, I have never put my oars to the kind of test that they'll face this December when we take our trip! I'm sure even Riverbluff oars have their limits; whether we'll discover them on this coming trip or not remains to be seen.

-Daniel

Good News!

Good news: for now at least we have a green light on water levels in the southern basin from Hector Herrera, the Basin Program Manager for the Department of Water Resources. Humorously enough (now, anyway), in his email to me he told me "If you are launching at Blue Cypress Lake, you will head north into M canal and come to your first levee which you will have to pull your canoes over. If you use the airboat jump, be aware that I ran into a nest of nasty African honey bees on the north side of the jump that stung my party and me pretty good."

Yeah, those are totally the ones that went after David and me on our trip in March (take a look back in the earlier posts to see the videos and posts about it)! The dang hive is STILL THERE! We'll have to be extra careful that we don't make the same mistake over again. What's that saying, again: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...I get the crap stung out of me a second time!"

-Daniel

Date Change...

Our starting date of December 11th won't work because of some conflicting school/work schedules, so we have pushed the date back to December 28th; three days after Christmas. Hopefully it won't be too much colder, since it'll be early January by the time we reach the northern basin, but we'll worry about that when we get there. There appear to be no conflicts from anyone in the group for this date, so it looks like this time is secure. Overall, it's probably a better starting time anyway, since the other three guys are going to have finals for college up to December 10 (Jesse even has an oddball one on the 14th!), so everything would probably be rushed and hectic before we left. With the Dec. 28th start date, everyone will have plenty of time to cool down, get into the holiday spirit, maybe get a few bits of free gear from Santa, and then go :)

Oh let me run the River free
Great Levren ending in the Sea

By narrow passes through the plains
And open skies of sun and rain
By palm and cypress, pine and oak
And eddies swirling with each stroke

By ancient mounds of shell and bone
With blooming grass to crown their own
By heron, red tail, osprey, kite
And those who stir in depths of night

By bear and gator, boar and deer
They come to see our passing here
By stars that blaze in virgin sky
And moon that bats her silv’ry eye

By wind and waves to challenge strength
O’er distances of untold length
Oh let me run the River free
Great Levren ending in the Sea

Through the Labyrinth of the South
The maze by which are few ways out
Through Poinsett, Harney and Monroe
The southern lakes by which we row

By Riverbluff where all began
And Delk her sister in that land
By Evensfold, the marshes wide
And Northern Islands do we ride

Across the Great Lake’s wat’ry face
As violent storms its tempers raise
By Seven Sisters northward bound
Which run where courage must be found

Through Caiden’s Reach against the wind
To the last great City at world’s end
By sandy shores and gulls in flight
To where all land drops out of sight

Oh, to have run the River free
Great Levren ending in the Sea

-Daniel