Au naturel

“It feels so natural!” a friend exalted in a recent email. The occasion was that he had just master hand-rolling his kayak. I will digress a moment, for the sake of the uninitiated.

If you capsize your kayak, the fastest and safest way to self-rescue is to roll it 180 degrees to the right-side-up position you were in, prior to your lapse in attention or technique. Most utilize the paddle for this, to some extent, but it can be done without it.

I was exhilarated when I pulled it off, sans paddle, but I don’t recall equating it to a natural experience. Flailing around, inverted in an oxygen-free environment, just doesn’t bring that to mind for me.

Or, does it? Humans have dreamt for eons of flying like a bird. That’s why you see these people of questionable judgment plummeting off cliffs with only the benefit of a wingsuit preventing them from becoming a grease spot on a boulder below. Fine for them, but I’ve never warmed up to any activity that involves “plummeting.”

But, the more I think about it… My favorite swimming stroke is the butterfly. When I’ve pondered that, I’ve attributed the preference to it being the most challenging. Revisiting that, I wonder if it’s because the motion most replicates that of a fish. The legs are together and move in unison, like a tail, an extension of the body movement. The natural fact is that fish lack legs (if you are served one otherwise configured, you would be well-advised to send it back). So, maybe the allure is swimming like a fish, au naturel.

I can see it in that vein, but not in hand-rolling a kayak with just my “fins.” Kayaks are another thing that fish seem to lack.

If we covet the natural abilities of animals, is the reverse true? (I need to cut back on the coffee.) I’m pretty sure my cat envies my capacity for opening cans.