I suddenly hear acrylic shatter as I’m unloading the trunk of my father’s vehicle in the dirt parking lot for the boat launch. Before I even look to see what had broken, I’m nearly certain it was the taillight of the 2012 Toyota Sequoia. I exhale deeply and look to see that the taillight is in fact shattered. This isn’t the way I intended for my excursion to go. Was it even worth it to haul these boats all the way out here?
Yes, very much so. That day of kayaking actually turned into one of my absolute favorites. Kayaking is one of the several ways in which I enjoy nature.
I remember learning to kayak when I was very young at my aunt’s lake near my home. Growing up, I wasn’t the most athletic person, but I did take kindly to kayaking for whatever reason. Perhaps I liked it because it didn’t require much of an effort to move pretty far at a decent speed. At the lake, I’d paddle hard for a little bit then take a moment to behold the scenery as I glided along. My aunt’s neighbors had some beautiful lakeside homes that I would enjoy looking at. At the end of her lake was a dam, which led to a short woodland path. I took great joy in disembarking from my boat, pulling it up onto shore, and exploring the dam area for a little bit. The whole experience is very nostalgic to me now.
As I mentioned in my This I Believe speech, I didn’t really go outside much in my youth unless I was promoted by adults. So, I didn’t kayak very often as a kid. I saw it more as something to do when I became bored at family events held by my aunt at the lake house. After I’d come around to embracing the outdoors, I started kayaking pretty consistently.
What I like most about kayaking is that it’s very accessible to all, making it easy to take either family or friends along. One time, my father, my brother and I set out to kayak in a windy river that my father knew of from his hunting days. I was skeptical at first of whether the trip would be cool or lame, but I was thoroughly impressed by it. Hauling the kayaks from the car down the river bank to the water then back up afterwards was a big hassle, but the river was moving fast that day and the speed had my adrenaline pumping. It was awesome bonding time with my family.
As for the time that I broke my father’s taillight, I’d gone to the State Park with two of my closest friends and was extremely excited until that mistake happened. I decided not let that small, fixable error ruin my mood. My friends and I spent hours on the lake, cracking wise and telling stories. Though we arrived at the lake basically right after lunchtime, we left only when the sky went dark.
Was the broken taillight inconvenient and annoying. Of course. Would I hesitate about lugging my kayaks around in a car because of it? No way, I would do it again tomorrow.