Monday, write prompts

I don’t normally do write prompts since I tend to write several times a day without being prompted. My brain never stops churning and there are times where the writing muse takes over and I ‘stop everything’ long enough to set down some notes. If I don’t, the idea scatters like a murder of Crows in a corn field being shot at. (You did know that a group of crows is called a murder, right?)

Todays writing prompt that I don’t use (🤪) was inspired by a short conversation on FB. “When did the kayak bug strike you?”

Well, it wasn’t in July of 2018, though that was the first time I owned one. The real bug bite was in ’92, when I lived in O-side Kaliforniastan. I lived across the street from a custom surfboard shop and the owner lived above it. I liked the atmosphere of the shop and would hang out when Shem, my GF, was in her creative phase and a complete terror to be near. He was getting out of the shortboard craze and going back to long boards when one of his customers came in, wanting a repair for a sea kayak. When they showed up with it, I was lost. Those lines and curves, just bedazzled me. Then I saw that same kayak out in the surf off La Jolla, near seal rock. I watched it out there for two hours, skimming the waves, backsurfing, rolling under breakers to come up the other side and get back out in the swells. I was in awe.

I wanted one.

A short spurt of shopping.

Hope sank like the Titanic with TWO holes in it. There was no way I could even consider $4000 for a boat that only held one person and was twice as long as my car (not quite, but I was driving a Fiat X/1-9 then. Where do you strap a kayak to a two seater sportscar? ) (and as I have found, the intial cost of boat/lathe/car/house, is just the admission fee, its the add-ons that get ya!)

26 years later, serendipity dropped the Carolina in my lap and the ramp up began. 2 years later ,,,

Three skin on frame kayaks, two white water yaks, and a stripbuilt expedition boat in process. And I have more investment in the peripheral gear than the boats themselves. Spray skirts, PFDs, wetsuits, dry tops, dry bags, floatbags, etc. I can outfit another paddler my size without stretching things and two if one has their own PFD.

And like I saw another person say, “I’m still on the swim team” meaning. I haven’t learned to roll yet. Oh, but so so close. Just need more seat time and a couple more sessions with someone in the know. B swears I only need one more session and I’ll be rollin’, but I am a pessimist. I know how stubborn I can be. I practice the different motions so the muscles know the routine, and keep the dialogue in my head. Soon,,,,

But that was the day I knew I wanted to kayak. I can even tell you the make and the designers name. It was a P&H Biadarka designed by Derek Hutchinson. I knew NOTHING about either the boat or Derek until recent years, but I remember the owner being VERY proud of his boat and who designed it. Now, I own books written by Derek, made a paddle based on one of his designs, and used some of his lines when designing Serena.

Talk about a long gestation period for a bug!!! LOL. It was just one of those things that kept getting shuffled to the side or to the back burner to simmer a bit longer. It was never a priority in my world, but it NEVER went away either.

I’ll be back at the running commentary of this Asylum we call 2020 tomorrow.