Wednesday, June 24, 2009

River Float

I took a day off Monday to rest up. Will joined me to float the Harpeth River, which has many Class I rapids that are great for kids ages nine and 44. We paddled 17 miles of calm river, taking in rural sounds and forgetting city noises.

Three hours into a five-and-a-half hour trip, I asked Will if he was enjoying the day. "Dad, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now," he said. What a nice answer.












While Will checked out baby frogs on the shore, I fished. I caught three healthy, feisty fish - a smallmouth bass, spotted bass and bluegill. All were returned to the river, after intense questioning earlier in the day by our favorite conservationist, Kathryn.

The paddling in 95 degrees was a great workout. No running on Monday. Last night, the humidity and dewpoint dropped into the mid 50s and 60s respectively. Around 7, I went out for a five miler in 86 degrees. With the sun down and northerly breeze, I ran pretty well. It felt like a little order was restored after Saturday's debacle.

On a separate note, my sense of what's "bad" has really been altered. At least twice in recent months, including yesterday, Dori called me on my cell starting with, "Something bad has happened." Feeling a quick pit in my stomach, I listened, only to hearing my girl has lost her car keys or something similar.

"Sweetie, that's not bad. That's unfortunate. Relapse is bad." I know she agrees. Perspective is a powerful thing, as is word selection, especially for jumpy cancer survivors and their spouses.

2 comments:

Ronni Gordon said...

I hate it when my kids call and say "Something bad has happened." It always makes your heart stop. Luckily it has always turned out to be something relatively minor.

Glad you and your son enjoyed your outing. Sounds like it was relaxing at the same time as giving you a chance to get in some physical activity.

Ann said...

I do the same thing to Chris. I'm getting better about it, but old habits are hard to break. So glad you got to spend the day with Will. I think the look on his face says it all.