As kayakers most of us are well aware of extremes. In fact it’s part of the joy, exhilaration and sensuality of the sport. We need our lows to feel our highs. We all know this. Experience teaches us perspective. We need a bit of havoc to appreciate the calm. Everything in life comes with a polar opposite. Hot & cold, war & peace, up & down, left & right, good and bad, crying and laughter and sadly, love and hate. I for one could never sit here each day and write my little tales without turning to both sides of life. Certainly the short days of winter can bring us into a series of emotional grays. I often wonder that most great novels were not written in the dead of dark winter. We have a joke around here that most musicians go to hell once they get famous. I remember really liking Billy Joel at one time, then he met Christy Brinkley and his career took a big flaming dive. He was just too friggin’ happy. Good for him, bad for the fans. Finally they broke up and he had something to feel bad about again. Good for us, bad for him. . . Sometimes people express concern when I’m in a particularly dark place. They need not worry. It’s the darkness that makes the light worthwhile. Extremes are good, in measure. Without balance of course they lead to disaster. Still, I’m led to a biblical moment, although I dare say I’m not a religious person, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” A luke warm life is not an aspiration. I’d like to avoid the lows, but they are just part of the quest for the highs. The trick of course is to make choices with wisdom. Now there’s a problem!

Speaking of extremes, the folks in Wales have been having some particularly nasty weather of late. Wind gusts over 70 miles per hour were recorded in Anglesey yesterday. Power and phone lines down all over the place. I wonder if anyone went out to play in the surf?

* image of the elisabeth lloyd copyright Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum.