~Langston Hughes~
Week 11 proved to be the turning point as far as my attitude about the island, the future, and my situation. It might be that I gave up, it might be that the meds kicked in, or it may have been a number of other things, but for some reason I found peace inside myself, and more importantly, peace on the island. It was not an overly eventful week. I woke up every morning, took a walk on the island, packed up, paddled out, and went to work. After work I paddled home, ate a snack, then started my daily "Middle Lines Workout Program". I was taking advantage of the fact that we had good water levels and the Middle Lines were STILL running everyday.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I spent a solid 36 hours isolated on The Island working on small projects and paddling my ass off. The Middle Lines were lower runnable, and the weather was cool and wet. I spent about an hour on Tuesday watching the approach of a nasty looking thunderstorm that ended up looking worse than it was. I stood on the top of War Cry Rock and watched the swirls of dark blue and grey clouds engulf the western sky, then slowly work down the river toward camp. Lightening kept creeping across the sky like fingers, and twice there were rainbows appearing and disappearing within the storm. Eventually the rains came and I retreated into my tent to read a book and wait for the sun to return.
On Thursday an unexpected bubble of water passed through Rva and the river spiked to almost 9 feet. I was lucky to get off work early and immediately paddled out to get an afternoon Middle Line set in before the sun went down. It was a great evening on the river, spent choosing between my favorite creek lines and admiring the view of RVa and the sunset. I paddled solo until dark, and then cooked a quick dinner and retired to my tent.
“There is nothing more beautiful than living a simple life in this complex universe!”
~Mehmet Murat ildan~
I am finding that simplicity works well with the life I am choosing to lead right now. When I try and complicate my position in the world I usually just frustrate myself and piss others off at the same time. It is ironic that the turning point week was also the simplest week so far. I made my life easier. I woke up, paddled to work, worked hard all day, walked to the coffee shop, wrote, walked to the marina, and paddled to and around the island. It was quite simple, and cheap!.......which is always good. Maybe I am learning what works best for me, or maybe I am learning that a simple world is a better world. Every day our society becomes faster, smarter, more connected, more driven, more in debt, more stressed, more, more, more. What if the answer is less? What if we all just need to slow down together, take a time out, and accept the world for what it is, instead of always trying to change and advance and conform. I have, and something seems to be changing. I am not sure what it is yet, but slowly, day by day, I am learning, and in the end it is that that could make all the difference ........we shall see. See ya on the rivah! PEACE
