EDITORIAL: YAKIN’ ‘BOUT KAYAKIN’

As the month of April finally approached, I was becoming less and less patient about spring break coming up. During the weeks leading up to spring break, I was thinking about all the possible things I could do to keep me occupied for the week. A few things came to mind like: spending time with my best friend, going shopping, staying home and playing basketball, just so many different options that I could choose from. However, one in particular ran across my mind, something that I never thought I would ever do.

My best friend, Brittney, called me one of the days in the previous week and asked me if I wanted to go kayaking with her. It sounded like a ton of fun; however, I was terrified, believe it or not. Well Sunday, April 1, came about and I went to church, sat through the service, and thought about kayaking the whole time and all the possible things that could potentially go wrong. As the church service ended, I began to get shaky and nervous (which sounds foolish I know, but it happened).

As the day went on we finally reached our destination at Rocky Mountain Recreational Park in Rome, Georgia. We began to get the kayaks out of the back of the truck, placed them in the water, and put our life-jackets on (which at this point there was no way for me to back out). They all then yelled “Shalee, get in and go for it,” and to make things clear I was clueless about everything, but they still expected me to figure it out; so, I did exactly that.

After screaming and whining about getting in the kayak, I finally was able to sit myself down in the boat. With the help of my wonderful best friend I realized that I could do it, that it was nothing like I was making it out to be. Well, I had another thing coming, because when I started paddling the kayak was so shaky, and I couldn’t figure out how to keep myself balanced as I paddled. After almost tipping over three different times I started to get the hang of it; so, by this time I was able to at least paddle. Although I was able to paddle, that doesn’t mean I figured out how to control where I was going, so I then ended up getting tangled into people’s fishing lines (go ahead and laugh). I was so frustrated by this point and I literally just sat there. Brittney rows herself close to me and figures out a way that we could attach ourselves to one another, by attaching her back to my front with a rope. We had about a couple of feet between us, which was enough to keep us separated enough to paddle wherever, but also provided help if we (me) got stuck.

Although there were many complications in the beginning, I did figure everything out in the end. Kayaking was a lot of fun and I got better the longer we kayaked. Kayaking is so relaxing and I enjoyed every minute of it, because it allowed me to get away for a little while and spent quality time with my best friend. I recommend that you all should try it out, because honestly it’s a ton of fun. Now that it’s over I have “kayaking fever,” and all I can do is yak about that amazing day, until I’m able to do it again.