It was cold. But the show must go on. At 5 am I do feel a bit like Roy Scheider looking at his Bob Fosse reflection in the mirror and saying “It’s show time, Folks!”. For some reason the first class of the year had to be done on the one day we had a strange 10 degree temperature drop & harsh southerly wind. My fingers quickly went numb as I stood putting fuel in the jeep under the last of the morning stars.

Having an early season class with the retail folks is helpful I think, in that it lets you find your groove again but in a more relaxed atmosphere. You know there is no need to tell them what kayaks are made of and most have had a fair amount of time on the water as it is. They know the dogma, “All Boats are good boats” and fully understand why you wear Icebreakers instead of blue jeans. So you just plug along with the skill work side of things knowing you’re a bit rough and out of sync but you didn’t forget as much as you thought you would. The only nerve-wracking part is when they go back and tell the rest of the staff how much you suck!

Thing is, I feel like a bit of a fraud this time around. I open my mouth and out comes words and phrases told to me by others. I know that’s always the case but it stood out to me all of a sudden. Like copyright infringment. This bit from Fiona, that bit from Rowland, the other slice from JB, Sam, Shawna, Brent, Gail, and on, and on. I’m a mocking bird. The skill as an instructor is not so much in the knowledge you’ve gained but in presenting the knowledge others have gained in an understandable and interesting format. Sort of like the “Puteshestveniks” That Jon Turk speaks about in his book, you travel up the coast bringing news from far away. . .