Why so serious?

Because no else is gonna take me seriously, ya?

Then again, I can’t take myself TOO seriously either or things could get pretty ugly: that whole INTJ thing, with the last “Thinking” and “Judgmental” being the operative words.   I think the Introvert and iNtuitive side keep the other two in check to some degree, at least on the societal end of things.  At a personal level I feel they feed the OCD side that the last two induce in me. Been more than a few times I have fallen DEEP into some task and days have gone by and meals not ate,,,   Happens frequently enough that keeping my weight down isn’t as much of a fight as it could be: though maintaining a healthy diet can be problematic (because I will stave off munchies with total crap just to give the hands and mouth something to do and keep out of the way.)

And I have to watch myself closely.    example.  Recent forays into the world via the window of Utoob,,,  You know where I mean, and in this case is the exposure to the efforts of Mark Ervin, his Reverse the Bad tour of the Greater Loop (good name by the way Mark)

The desire to get out there and start doing that very same thing became STRONG, QUICKLY.   It rolls right up my alley as something I want to do before my days are done.    AH, but that’s the catch and the part that IRKS the Judgmental side of me.   And where I start saying “Ok, step back, let it sit a week and see where the feelz sit then”.  I must do this often on many things.   I have a very addictive personality and things can sweep me up in a whirlwind before I realize that I should be hugging terrafirma,,,   And why I am so cautious getting into relationships.  I have had more than one whirlwind romance that fizzled like a wet firecracker.  (and I have a boat named after one of them,,,LOL)

SO, Do I truly want to do the Great Loop?   (not the Greater Loop that Mark is doing, but up the Hudson to Erie skipping the Nova Scotia route)

Yes.

But not RIGHT NOW.  and thats the whirlwind I must fight.

There are plans that need to be made for something of that magnitude.  Arrangements of things, FINANCING because food isn’t free as just a start, plus there are equipment needs that must be met (and while I have quite a kit, I do not have all I would need, LIke a VHF radio to comm with other craft and Locks. and it must be handheld, waterproof, FLOAT, and easily recharged by means I have yet to acquire as well.   One thing leads to another,,,,)

Then there is the “personal reasons” things.   Is this something I want to do just to say I had done it (usually a bad decision,,, just sayin’) OR do I want it to mean something bigger than just me?   Mark’s journey has a purpose beyond just doing the deed, and it shows how dedicated he is at that purpose by his interviews and interactions.

Another side of it, Am I ready PHYSICALLY?    OH to the hell NO!!!   Could I paddle a 50 km day?   Yes.  right now, yes.   Could I do it 6-7 days a week for 52 weeks?  ummmmmm,,,,,,,,,,   Probably not,,,,   BUT, that’s a ‘Yet’ statement as well.    I have done 37 miles in one day, but we sort of cheated.  It was during a dam release, and while we kept ‘outrunning the bubble’ of the release, it did give us a boost.   Even then, my arms were wet noodles by the time we hit the takeout.   (37 miles is 59 klicks.).  I can paddle a three-and-a-half mile-per-hour pace for hours on end, and that is also boat-dependent.  That three point five is in BJ, I am certain it will higher in Lizzy, who has a higher hull speed and MUCH smoother finish on said hull.   

As for the mental side of it,,,,,   I’m an introvert: we live in our heads more than we live in reality, so spending days, with little to no interaction with others is not that much a hardship.  I have found my limits on it while living in Texas, and how I came to share orbits with Voodoo, but that limit is measured in MONTHS, not days or hours like some people I know.  (and some people that orbit me (like Haley’s comet orbits our sun) can’t go 1 minute without getting a little unhinged.  They can’t handle the noise of their own minds.  You’ll know them by asking them to sit silently for five minutes.  In sixty seconds they are squirming like a 2-year-old after a sugar binge.) 

Now, some of what I would need is already in place, like this blog, a way of connecting to the internet anywhere I am, a majority of the gear I would need,   BUT, to attract those interested would require more effort on my part, and likely going the whole Utoob route like Mark did.   Driving donations, not just to whatever charities I decided to push for, but to myself as well (and I WOULD donate what donations I didn’t need to one of, or split between whatever charities I chose when it was all said and done.). yeah, more work to figure out, and that can wait until I decide when/how/what, IF I ever do.

And there might even be an option of writing about it, book form, after the fact.   People DO still read, (even though there is the question as to HOW MANY actually do these days, seeing the ubiquitous nature of video sites and the traffic they generate vs a written word site.

SO, fortunately for me, Mark is taking the Christmas holidays off from paddling.   He is visiting his father in Canada for them, and will get back to paddling after the New Year.   I have a chance to set things aside and see how I feel about them further down the road without feeding more fuel to the beast,   

And in two weeks, this may dilute down to the simple “bucket list entry”    

NOW, that’s not to say I don’t want to do an extended paddle with camping involved, A majority of my purchases the last year have been for camping equipment, and boats, so the desire to do that is much longer lived than the recent ‘oh, oh, OH,!!!” of doing a year-long paddle around the eastern half of the U.S.  My getting into kayaks spurred that dream from the get-go, and I have always looked for boats that can carry gear (with the exception of the WW boats, and also one reason why I struggle adjusting to them: they don’t fit the profile in my head,,,).  I was disappointed in Lizzy on that note, even going so far as finding and downloading the trip notes of the expedition she was designed FOR (the NORDKAPP expedition, 1975).  The paddlers of that trip noted how hard it was to stow gear, so I don’t feel so bad in my assessment.   BUT, long-distance kayaking has always been in the mix for me: this isn’t a new obsession, just a variation of a theme.

(funny note, Mark and I almost share a birthday, with him being 10 years and 364 days older than me. I found that hilarious when it came up on his Vlog.)

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