A Quote for Today

Sent to me by my friend and paddling buddy, Gail, of Ridgefield Kayak in beautiful Ridgefield, Washington. The quote came from one of her paddling guides, David:

" dip paddle and renew spirit "

picture from http://nextadventure.net/

Paddling Poet continues

We had a beautiful night on Lake River in Ridgefield, WA, Thursday night. There were four of us in our kayaks, paddling, drifting, being present, and taking in all that nature offered to us. The water was calm, the wind very mild, the temperature just right.

After a short while, we came upon a blue heron standing in the water. Feeding. We've learned from Gail, our guide, that if we don't look directly at the heron, we can get closer. We also didn't want to disturb the great bird's feeding time, so we drifted. Closer and closer, looking without looking, anticipating. We did not want to mess up her chances at catching the fish nor scare her away. Well, maybe not "scare" her, but force her to throw up her wings in disgust at our rudeness and fly away to a quieter place to feed.

Later we saw what was probably a family or clan of beavers. Swimming toward us, then away, then diving deep and leaving behind a couple of nice big branches with tasty leaves. Did they forget their dinner or was it reinforcements for their home?

We took notes as we floated near the railroad ties bridge into the wildlife refuge. We wrote poetry. Then after returning to the boathouse and climbing out of the kayaks (still not my most graceful maneuver - but I do get out without falling in) - after which we sat along the dock and shared what we wrote, listened, offered encouragement and said what was strong in our writing.

A lovely night.

And we agreed to add another session - which will dovetail onto Ridgefield Kayak's Birdfest paddle. The migratory birds will be passing through and departing; they offer special paddles at that time. We decided we'd do a semi-impromtu paddling poet for those who want to participate. And those on the paddle who just want to listen or just paddle out of earshot are welcome to do so.

The added session in conjunction with Ridgefield's Birdfest will be on Friday, October 8th, from 4-6pm. As with the first three, reservations are required. They are especially required for this paddle, which will fill up.
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workshop reminder: final Paddling Poet

*Final kayak and writing workshop is Thursday 9/2*

Dot has teamed up with Ridgefield Kayak to offer creativity workshops on the water.

A two-hour guided paddle on Lake River with the intent
to be in flow with the water, the wildlife,
letting nature be our guide and our muse.

Join us as we share poetry and inspiration,
being present as our creativity blooms.
Writing and note-taking time will be included.

Location:
Ridgefield Kayak in Ridgefield, WA
visit their website for directions

Time:
We meet at 6 PM, the paddle begins at 6:30; we will stop for writing time along the river and return about 9.

Cost: $55 each session, which includes kayak rental, paddle, guide, and PFD.

Pre-registration is required by contacting Ridgefield Kayak at (360) 727-3120 or (503) 319-1146 and paying the $35 paddling fee. The balance of $20 is due at the time of the workshop, payable to Dot Hearn.

photograph c. Ridgefield Kayak

Moonlight Paddle

from Serena Barton's blog... It was a beautiful evening paddle.

"Boating in the Moonlight
Saturday night we celebrated my son Ian's birthday by taking him and his fiancee, Ruby, on a "Moonlight Paddle" on River Lake, a tributary of the Columbia. Despite all my stepfamily and my partner being avid kayakers, I had not even stepped into one before! It's never too late, and I had a wonderful time. Can't wait to go again. The event was put on by Ridgefield Kayak who did a wonderful job.

I don't have any photos yet, but the "Wabi-Sabi" piece below is an impression of how I felt as we paddled in the light from the full moon with small lights clamped onto the back of each boat. We paddled up to a beach where we picnicked and roasted marshmallows. The area where we were was once home to about 900 Native Americans. It must have been so incredible then..."

Moonlight Flit

by Serena Barton

If you visit Serena's blog, she includes a description of how she created the above piece.

We had a wonderful time. It was the first time I'd done Ridgefield Kayak's Moonlight Paddle and it was perfect. Other than well over 50 mosquito bites (yes, I put on repellant; lots of it), it was exactly what I needed and was perfect for Serena as a first-time kayaking experience. And Ian & Ruby enjoyed the birthday outing. We paddled for a little over an hour up to the confluence of Lake River and the Columbia River, where we pulled out for the fire and s'mores. Then we paddled back to the boathouse with the full moon reflecting on the river and following the trail of small white lights on the back of each kayak.

Beautiful.

Razor's Edge for 7/16/2010

The Paddling Poet workshop on Lake River in Ridgefield went beautifully last night. The temperature was just right, there was a little wind, clear skies, and a variety of birds and some other critters.We paddled, talked about writing, I read a cinquain poem and we talked about structures of poetry. And paddled - with our eyes and ears open, open to what Lake River offered us as fuel for our creativity.

Good company, good setting, physical and mental and spiritual all at the same time.

With all of that in mind, today's Razor's Edge is about water and cinquain poetry. I'll give you a definition of this form and, as an example, will use the cinquain I wrote last night in response to being on the water.

In any order you want, watch the River Song flute video, the kayaking video, and look at the picture of the Blue Heron.

Pick the strongest image for you. Look at the description of form for the Cinquain Poem,

Write a cinquain for the river object you selected.

five-line cinquain 

line 1 - one word name of the subject
line 2 - two words  describing the subject
line 3 - three words describing an action related to the subject
line 4 - four words describing a feeling about the subject or a complete sentence
line 5 - one word referring back to the subject of the poem

My cinquain from our paddle last night (7/15/2010)

Lake River Native

otter

sleek, whiskered

gliding, diving, observant

seeking a path home

swimmer

"River Song" by Cesar Espinoza

photograph credits

heron : Ridgefield Kayak

paddlers near Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge : Team Hymas on flickr

Ridgefield boat launch : Columbia Trail Org.

Skamokawa, WA paddle

Ridgefield Kayak took a new trip today and I was there with them. It was beautiful paddling from Skamokawa, WA to Cathlamet, WA - a total of about 7 miles. The original plan was to end at Skamokawa, but the weather prediction, along with tides and all those things the guides check, indicated some strong winds that would make it better to start at Skamokawa.

The trip was really nice. We went through sloughs, on rivers, a little bit on the Columbia river. We saw osprey, eagles, terns (I forget which kind), gulls (of course), Canadian geese, killdeer, purple martins, blue heron, a small young ill/malnourished coyote, river otter, neutria, and probably more that I either forgot or didn't hear what they were called. We paddled through steep banks where animals surely lived, along the edge of swamps, past abandoned waterfront property and some which weren't abandoned but looked nearly the same. We saw old piers where the plants are now growing out of the top, natural Ikebana which was incredibly gorgeous, one place that I named the "ghost forest" because of pier-like tree trunks sticking out the water, all the same height, in front of a forest bank.

I didn't take very many pictures, because I was busy paddling. And I was still getting used to a new style of hardshell kayak. It was a little nervewracking for a few minutes when we first went on the Columbia river portion, because there were little waves and wakes, as well as more wind. I felt pretty comfortable in the more snug fitting boat up until that point - so much so that I even attached my spray skirt (which means I wasn't afraid of falling in the water and not being able to get out of the boat because of the skirt) - but the choppiness and the wind were much more rocky. After a bit I adapted - and will admit to being glad the Columbia portion was fairly short. Next time it will be easier.

One paddler had been called in to work, so it ended up being three guides and three guests. Not bad odds! Everyone was a delight and it was a great day.




This short video is at our lunch stop at a sandy beach along the Columbia river.

Pronunciation: "Skamokawa" = skah-mock'-ah-way ; "Cathlamet" = cath-lam'- ett
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