Attitude

One more day before the next big trip and yes, I am on the usual writing jag for displacement activity. Except, I leave in two days. The one day I’m referring to is the final workout in preparation for the trip. I will be glad to get it over with since my pre-trip conditioning is arduous and not something I could sustain in the long run. Why do it? It’s not like I’ll be leaping tall buildings with a single bound. It’s said that timing is everything, but it isn’t. You should never believe absolutes. Did I just say that? At any rate, attitude is a big thing. When I go into an expedition like this, I want to feel strong, fast and durable. That sets the tone with a very positive attitude. The fact that I may be wrong, fat and vulnerable, in spite of the program, is irrelevant. I feel good about this and it’s all about attitude. At the gym, Sherm noticed my increased activity and asked about it. I gave him the reason and he advised, “Watch out for the bears.” “Don’t warn me about the bears. Warn them about me.” It’s all about attitude.

Context

Context is an interesting animal that affects perceptions, as I observed before. On that occasion, I believe I related how the longest hole on our nearby par 3 was shorter than many of our approach shots, but intimidated golfers on my team nonetheless (yes, I did play many years ago). And, the biggest surf wave on our local river is dwarfed by what we freely play at much more challenging venues. And yet, paddlers are apprehensive because it’s the largest in this context. The latest example is a kayak trip in Alaska I’m prepping for. The group is beginning to spaz out. Why? It’s Alaska! So what? We’ll be miles from anything resembling civilization. We’ve done that before. I feel better about the Coast Guard in Seward than I did about whatever Canadian forces were in the remote corners of Georgian Bay we paddled last year. We saw no sign of them where we launched and certainly none at sea. There are bears! Bears have inhabited many places we’ve paddled. The Apostle Islands have the densest population in the country and we barely (excuse the pun) caught sight of them. What about the climate? It’s summer. The highs will be in the 50s. We’ve done colder. But, it’s Alaska. Okay, I get it. Context. I could be wrong. If no more blogs appear here, you’ll know I was.