The Practice

I've got a number of things I do to cope with stress and help them keep things in focus. These activities run the gamut from eating to watching TV to biking to writing to kayaking.
In some company, these activities are called practices. They must be practiced regularly for maximum benefit. Only through regular participation can one find some sort of balance.
Because they require regular practice, some of these activities are more destructive than helpful. TV and eating provide good short term escapes. They are easy and provide immediate relief. However, over the long haul, they are ineffective and potentially destructive. Unfortunately, because they are so easy, these are the practices I turn to when things become overwhelming. These are also the ones I turn to when other outlets appear closed off and I cannot see another approach.
The practices that I find most rewarding and most helpful over the long haul require work. One is weather dependent. Kayaking is my yoga. It provides me an outlet for physical energy, challenges my balance, gives me space to think, and forces me to remember the connection between my mind and my body. Biking, to a lesser extent, also provides me the same benefits. Writing forces me to reflect on my inner life, forces me to clarify my thinking, forces me to remember that words have power, and forces me to remember that others are not mind readers.
The last few weeks have been tough for getting the maximum benefit. The weather spirits have been cranky and keeping the kayak in the garage. Work has been devouring all of my writing energy. (Writing technical documentation does not count as writing.)
I did get the bike trainer set up. However, spinning away in the basement staring at the 60's wood paneling is not ideal.
Now that the sun is shining more, perhaps the weather spirits are happy again and I can get the toys out of the garage!!!
Until then, I'll just have to keep writing....

Daylight

I think that daylight savings time is a dumb idea. The reasons proffered up for its existence are mostly bunk. In fact they did a study recently that showed that DST does not create energy savings; it causes a net gain in energy consumption.
I don't, however, let my dislike of the idea get in the way of my enjoyment of the extra hour of daylight in the evening. I get tired of going to and coming from work in the dark. I also hate the fact that winter paddles have to be shortened because it gets dark so early. The extra hour makes winter paddling much less of a rush job.
The end of the winter is in sight. The light of day is burning away the dark days.
In a few short weeks, RICKA will plan the summer paddles. The local pond will be warm enough for some quick weekend (possibly even after work) practice sessions. Can you feel it?

Collection of Randomness

Life has been fairly crazy lately and chanced to think about paddling have been scarce. Weather and life have conspired to keep the Q-Boat resting in the garage for far longer than is healthy. The odds for getting on the water in the near future look long. This is winter.... Daylight is in short supply, obligations are abundant.
The new year begins with a frantic rush for new life/opportunities/horizons/projects. We meet, we plan, we get ready, we hope, we regroup. It is frantic because new routines are being formed or old ones are being relearned.
I have been doing a bit of reading when I get a chance.... The last issue of Sea Kayaker magazine had several great articles:
One was on the effects of cold water on a paddler. It focused on the dangers of drowning in the first few minutes of exposure: the gasp reflex & confusion.
One was an analysis of a failed attempt to cross Lake Michigan. It is always educational to learn why a trip failed. It reminds us that we are all fallible.
The last was a great article about towing techniques. It also had a discussion about leadership roles: the leadership role can rotate, the leader should be in a position to survey the entire incident. The leader should not be performing the rescue or doing the towing.

From Atlantic Coastal Kayaker:
A great article on skill retention. It talk about how we need to use a skill or it will get bored and leave. It also talked about how a skill can become very situation specific. For instance, if you learn to roll in a pool you may find rolling in the ocean very hard. Moral of the article: practice often and practice in varied conditions.
An article on using the re-enter and roll as a self-rescue technique and using it with a paddle float assist. I have always found the paddle float assisted re-enter and roll to be a better self-rescue than flopping around on my back deck. I feel more stable throughout the rescue. I also like that the paddle stays in my hand.

My Swiss cheese memory cannot locate the authors of the articles or the exact issue numbers for any of the articles. I'm sure the information is paddling somewhere just beyond the horizon of my recall.

Interesting Post

Mark Tozer has a great post about the ills of modern life here.

Just one more reason to believe kayaking is good for the world.

Rolling Thoughts

Last Sunday was the second of the RIC/KA rolling sessions. These sessions are a great way for members to work on their roll. The newer members get a chance to get some instruction. The more experienced members get a chance to practice their rolls. They also get a chance to try their hands at instructing.
I was instructing again, so I wanted to make sure I got some Euro paddle time before working with a student. While I'm a proponent of traditional paddles, I know that most paddlers are not going to use a traditional paddle. So, I wanted to make sure I remembered what it felt like to roll with a Euro paddle. It was an odd thing. I had to think about having an onside and an offside. I had to think about how the roll would look. I was nervous that I just couldn't roll using a Euro paddle. I had to think about blade orientation.
I flopped over, hoping I had picked my "onside", forced myself to settle down, and unwound. I popped up without a hitch. I then tried the other side. The effect was the same. One thing I noticed was that my roll became more of a screw roll when I use the Euro paddle. I tried to do a sweep roll, but for some reason (it is all in the head) my body wouldn't execute it.
I spent a little time processing and then found my student for the day. We talked about what he remembered from the previous session. We did some bracing practice and some hip flick practice and then we got down to some serious rolling practice.
We did some dry runs and broke down the roll into three parts: set-up, unwind, hip flick. Then I put a paddle float on the end of his paddle so he could work on the motion. We both found this exercise rewarding. The student liked it because he could execute a roll with the help of the float. I liked it because I could watch what he was doing and try to see what needed to be improved.
It was fascinating to analyze a roll and try to find the pieces that are not working right. I find that when I'm doing a roll it all feels like one fluid action. I cannot break down what I'm doing. In the past when I've helped people with their rolls I've been spotting them and didn't really have the wherewithal to see what was happening with the roll. I think I learned as much as my student did.
After the session, PB and TM had an interesting discussion about rolls. The basic gist of the conversation was that all backward finishing rolls are essentially a screw roll. PB was saying that when he feels like his roll isn't working, he goes back to a sweep roll. He thinks the sweep roll is the base form. It is all about learning the motion and the body position. Once the base form is mastered, you can modify it to fit your needs.
After my experience with the Euro paddles earlier in the morning, I gave some consideration to the idea. The basic set up and movement are the same. The end result is the same. I'm not sure though. A screw roll is a fast, short, powerful stroke. I sweep roll is slow, graceful stroke. Anyway it is something to think about.