Always tease tease tease
Siempre - coqetiando y enganyando
Youre happy when Im on my knees
Me arrodilla y estas feliz
One day is fine, next is black
Un dias bien el otro negro
So if you want me off your back
Al rededar en tu espalda
Well come on and let me know
Me tienes que desir
Should I stay or should I go?
Me debo ir o que darme
- clash
I can’t say I’ve read much from Charles Bukowski, Well other than some poems actually. Thing about dear old Chuck is that he pretty much loved to phrase things in a way that our inner bastard would readily understand, while our tasty PC outer shell does gasp and writhe upon every line. I know one thing, as I get older I’m certainly becoming more at peace with my inner bastard. I wanted to read you my favorite poem by Charles called, "To the Whore that stole my Poems” but I thought better of it. Here instead is "Some People":
There’s a little green frog (ribbit)
Swimming in the water.
A little green frog (ribbit)
Doing what he oughter.
He jumped right off of the lily pad
The little duck bit.
And he said "I’m glad,
I’m a little green frog,
Swimming in the water,
ribbit, ribbit, ribbit
Sorry you couldn’t comment yesterday, silbs pointed that out and it’s fixed. I really couldn’t believe I would get away with these posts without some comments. LOL! Anyway, today I’m focusing on teaching the first time student. Again, I’m certainly not an authority on this stuff. We’ll leave that to the Big Dogs. But I can share what I’ve learned or at least what I think I’ve learned.
What did you dream? It’s alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar,
He always ate in the Steak Bar. He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome to the machine.
- pink floyd
Every so often I get into discussions with other coaches about teaching styles. Certainly the coaching style I’ve grown into has come from plagiarizing all the wonderful coaches I’ve worked with over the years. Still, most would agree that my methods are a bit “out there” sometimes. I’ll take that. I’m more a “method in the madness” type than a method type teacher. Over a short series of posts I’m going to try to explain my path to coaching weirdness. Keep in mind that I’m not any sort of Uber coach either, so everything I say can be total rot. But it can’t hurt to discuss it. . .
Thanks to the North East Wisconsin Paddlers for inviting us up yesterday. We had a great time. Anytime I get a chance to visit the North East group it’s a special thing for me. When I first started paddling and was looking to move forward in my skills John Browning of Milwaukee told me about the group. We packed up one weekend for one of their summer events and just showed up. In looking back it’s pretty clear that their warm welcome and friendly atmosphere went a long way toward feeding my deep roots in sea kayaking. In coaching we often talk about our responsibility as the welcoming committee for the sport. Paddle Clubs are of course another important gateway for new paddlers. Thankfully we have groups like the NEW Sea Kayakers out there giving us a place to grow and fostering that good feeling that sea kayaking is really all about.
Standing like tanks on the brow of the hill
Up into the cold wind facing
In stiff battle harness, chained to the world
Against the low sun racing
Bring me a wheel of oaken wood
A rein of polished leather
A Heavy Horse and a tumbling sky
Brewing heavy weather.
- tull
Yeah, I gotta run out the door. Just thinking of summer and a sea kayak on the water. . .
It’s snowing again.
For myself it’s never about reaching the end. My goal is not to arrive on a beach somewhere and shout, "Hey, look what I did!" To do that is sort of a cheat. When you think about it, none of us doubt that we will complete the journey. Knowing somewhere in the back of your mind that you will make the crossing or get around the island dulls the victory in a sense. The only difference between a day trip and a 3 month journey is the length of time in the middle. The end of both, is just that. The end. There has to be more to it than that. Once the journey is over, it’s in the books. A memory. It’s the past. I’m not one to live on glory days. You can certainly enjoy sharing the experience, writing, presenting and such. But soon it’s time again to move ahead. That’s probably what drives some people to the next adventure. Not to rack up "victories", but to live a new experience.
