roll with it
Published August 10, 2009 | 
Sometimes you simply roll with it. Like today, when the cat died. It’s not the way one would normally expect to start a day. Sunlight rising on the eastern horizon can portend a lot of things but rarely is it the death of a cat. One would hope you would get your coffee before the sad discovery, but life often does not work like that. On the other hand cats probably die each day, in which case every sunrise portends the death of a feline and we should simply expect it…like today… and roll with it.
Speaking of “rolling with it” my Scotland plans were getting a bit wiggy as well recently. I had planned originally to go in August. Summer in Scotland was the fantasy, however I was happy to wait until September for the sake of a partner. When that changed (and some logistics along with it), I was finding myself feeling like I was chasing a sheet of paper across a parking lot to get things back in order. I could still make it happen although I also realized it was necessary to delay until the end of the month or even into early October. A bit tension was beginning to overlay the maps as it were. Not with people, but with the way a chain of events was sucking the fun out of my Nessie hunt. But then, luckily, some sense of sanity took over! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT A BLOODY SECOND!!! “Why the hell am I pushing this?” I thought to myself. Right. This is supposed to be enjoyable. It’s not work. Why am I acting like I have to fulfill a contract? I needed to be real here. Race in, Race out is not fun. I finally got a grip. I had not wanted to do this trip in the fall and … well, … I don’t have to. I really want it to be a summer thing. So I’ve decided that rather than pushing the trip back into October I’ll simply ride out the winter and go in the summer as I had originally planned. This is supposed to be fun right? The dumb bit is that I found myself feeling guilty as if I was calling in to work with a case of the Monday flu. How silly is that? For me Loch Ness (and the West Coast of Scotland) is a dream trip, and in my dream the leaves are still green!
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6 Responses to roll with it
Derrick,
The best time for paddling over here is often May/June. It’s colder which means less midges. The bird are coming ashore to nest and the weather CAN be more settled. Also the days are longer.
I hope you get to do a trip no matter what! But if it is not soon, that’s ok too.
On a technical note, do you come up from that handroll with your head leading that way?
Keith
ah.. no, that pic shows a really bad angel roll actually… LOL! I’m totally going head first in the shot which just goes to show how badly you can screw up parts of your technique if you do however get the body & boat moving correctly.
Nessie has been around for a while, she will definitely be there waiting for you next summer.
I will be around next summer to read about your adventure.
Good to have you back Derrick. Sorry about the cat! John
THANKS EVERYONE! – For what it’s worth, I’m all jazzed up actually. Other than waiting another few months, I feel sort of back where I wanted to be in the first place.
Well, still have to do something about those midges~