Posted Previously Under Commentary
Posted by derrick on
May 8, 2008
In the shuffling madness- of the locomotive breath,
runs the all-time loser, headlong to his death.
He feels the piston scraping — steam breaking on his brow –
old Charlie stole the handle and the train won’t stop going –
no way to slow down. - tull
It’s probably the nature of the moment; The media screams of politics, the opinion battles of guns, gods, activists and naysayers, the wind tunnel nature of my own little world of late, the sound of heavy trucks passing by on the highway. . . Whatever the reasons and likely for all these reasons and a multitude others that have so easily woven into the din, the tenor, the beat, the drums, the bells, the noise seems slightly overwhelming. Even the birds seem strangly loud. An oppressive atmosphere seems filled with acrid odors aloft on a racing wind.
Posted by derrick on
April 21, 2008
Open your eyes
Push yourself inside
Contemplate all of your senses
Tell them what you want to lose
- 30 seconds to mars
Of course there’s no need to lecture. I’d be preaching to the choir. No, I’ll just go for sharing the experience. The last couple years I’ve noticed that I’m starting to feel like the oldest geezer on the hills. It seems to me that the Vertical Limit for people over 40 is about 200 feet.
Here in my little part of the planet the big hills stand about 500 feet over the lake. Still, Devil’s lake State Park is the premier climbing destination in the Midwest. For climbers it’s not the vertical height that matters, but the difficulty of the ascents. The red quartzite cliffs in the park certainly provide variety and an occasional challenge. Each weekend every cliff and every nook seems to have bodies hanging from or ascending them all.
Posted by derrick on
April 14, 2008
In questions of who is the devil and who is the saint one truth emerges. Most are neither. . . and both.
Being online daily is a mixed experience as many know or are learning. Even paddle bloggers are not immune. I talk many times about how people learn differently. Of course they see the world through many different lenses as well. You could give a person a flower and some of course would find “evil” in the gesture. Usually we can agree to disagree. Sometimes though people feel they need to keep up a war. The problem with the online world of course is that it puts you in a place that’s very accessible. Friends, strangers, enemies, exes, are all given a ticket to your wanderings. With that comes all the good feedback you get every day, but also sometimes opens you up to harassment, stalking and daily attacks. Not always visible online, but behind the scenes. Still very disturbing none the less.
Posted by derrick on
April 10, 2008
Xplore
eXplore
eXplorer
Explorer
I was thinking that if you actually say the names it’s pretty hard to make them sound different. Must be my soft "r"s. Any thoughts?
Posted by derrick on
March 28, 2008
Well I Fear, My Dear / That It’s Eminently Clear
That You Can’t See The Trees / For The Forest
Your Father Was An / Extraordinary Man
But You Don’t Seem To Have Inherited
Many Of His Mannerisms
- mccartney
David at PaddlingInstructor.com stepped into a hornet’s nest the with a post about kayak makers moving their production to China. It’s certainly an important debate and one that stretches way beyond the borders of Canada and the limits of the paddle sport industry. It’s also not a debate with any simple solutions or obvious villains. I certainly don’t think anyone is simply being anti-anyone else. Most people will accept competition. What they seek however, is a level playing field. How we get there of course is a debate worth having. One thing that does strike me though is that we never find any solutions unless the tenor of the debate is kept civil. We have to work together to find solutions to any problem that effects us or our neighbors.
Posted by derrick on
March 26, 2008
Are you ready for a new sensation
A new sensation
Right now
Gonna take you on a new sensation
A new sensation
- INXS
I don’t know why it took me so long to happen across an interesting letter by John Dowd in the spring edition of Adventure Kayak. John was lamenting how the paddle press may be setting unrealistic goals for paddlers by making “rolling” a priority and tying it to a report that many people who take sea kayak instruction do not continue to paddle. Interesting discussion.
Posted by derrick on
March 16, 2008
As the world continues to grow smaller I find I still love an old map. Even if I don’t want to live in that old world anymore. It probably doesn’t surprise you that I would love maps. Not in the technical, “What’s Mercator mean?” sort of way, but more the finger and trace sort of way. Maps enter your mind like the work of an old master. From the whole of the work your mind centers it’s focus on a minor detail and your eyes are drawn down into a shape or color hidden yet obvious in the work. From there your vision and imagination radiate outward like a nova engulfing every detail until once again you return to the vision of the “whole”. It’s really an amazing journey.
