no boats in the desert

I like to ride in boats. Paddle boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks, sail boats, ferries. They're all exciting to me. Growing up in New Mexico I didn't get to ride on many boats. Some of my favorite boating memories, however, are from youth group trips in junior high and early high school to a lake. The couple who led our youth group at church had a lake house and a boat, so they would take us out there for the weekend. I distinctly remember how much I loved sitting at the front of the speed boat with the wind fluttering my eye lashes. We jumped off cliffs and swam, occasionally went water skiing, and flopped around on inner tubes shaped like rockets.

Ever since those trips I have missed riding on a speed boat. (I bet boats have better names and classifications that "speed boats" but I don't know what they are and I trust you get the picture.)

I went to college right next to the Puget Sound in Washington. For orientation all the freshmen had to go camping for two nights, and my special activity was sailing. Turns out that just meant some boy scouts sailed us around while all the girls stripped off their clothing as a last ditch effort to catch a tan before the ubiquitous Washington clouds settled in for the school year. I also went out in a row boat during orientation to catch crabs.

Judging by all the outdoor and boating activities experienced during orientation one would think I had an exciting four years ahead of me on the water. But alas.

Aside from the occasional ferry trip, I don't recall ever being on another boat while I was in the Pacific Northwest. (Wait, I think there were one or two canoe rides during church retreats.) I frequently took walks down by the water and I envied everyone I saw on a boat, whether it was a speed boat, sail boat, kayak, or whatever. I even loved hearing fog horns in the morning. I used to tell myself that I really needed to make friends with people who own boats. But it didn't happen.

Well this summer I think I have done pretty well when it comes to boats. I kayaked in the Chesapeake Bay, canoed down the Shenandoah River, and just yesterday sped down the Piankatank River to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It was great. They all were.

I need to keep this up.