Paddlers

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.”

We had a large kayak outing today, a joint event with another group. It was a blast. Afterwards a few members of that group approached me. They offered an apology because they had received some inaccurate information about our group and had unwittingly fostered the impression.

One piece of the fallacious characterization was that we were all hardcore who wanted nothing to do with casual paddlers. While it was true that today we had two people good enough to earn factory sponsorship and some other very skilled paddlers, the combined group was essentially seamless in its interaction and having fun with each other. That’s one aspect of paddling I relish.

It goes beyond skill level. I know a lot of the people in the groups personally. Today, there were machinists, lawyers, administrative assistants, nurses, mechanics, and a variety of other vocations and social strata represented. Outside of me, I doubt if many were aware of who was who in that regard. The cufflinks and the wrenches are left behind when you go out on the river. And, I know few other activities that cut across age, gender and other demographics like this sport. Paddlers are just paddlers; people having a good time.

The same is true with backpackers, cyclists, runners and other groups I’ve been in. On the other hand, I’ve been involved in other activities where that wasn’t so.

And, I can’t say I haven’t encountered exceptions. Even in the world of paddling, there are snobs. But they are relatively rare and not well regarded.

The women who approached me hoped I’d forgive them and that we’d all get together again soon. Of course. We’re paddlers.