From a dead beat to an old greaser, here’s thinking of you.
-tull

Ok, so I turn 44 in a few days. I’ve not rolled much since winter. So with air temperatures hovering at 102f according to my car and two banks I went out to Devil’s Lake to cool off and to just check in with my inner kayaker.

The last year or so have been odd kayaking wise. I enjoy it, but I’ve not been excited by it. Not like I used to be anyway. Even when I was ecstatic about kayaking I wasn’t a gear hear or someone who wants to debate the finer points hull designs. Paddling is a life thing, not a 5-guys-leaning-over-an-engine-car-show thing. I like rolling and balance play because it’s meditative. To roll or balance on the deck demands that you have feel what your body is doing. It’s a study in weight and motion and at times demands a higher sensitivity to our sensual existence. You don’t have to be particularly good at it, only immersed in it. Balance play and rolling can be exhausting, and it can be exhilarating.

On the water yesterday, under the yellow sun, wrapped in a thick blanket of humidity, I disappeared into the routine of practice. I went through my rolls one after the other, both onside and off. I stood on the deck, sat on the deck, laid back, sat up, moved, slid and adjusted. “All good.” I thought. I was relieved that I hadn’t lost a step. I also realized I had a lot of work to do… Isn’t that always the case?

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