Just A Paddler: Fall Equinox, Part 3

Well, it took me nearly 10 days to get back and finish talking about this one weekend. But sometimes I need to digest experiences. Ruminate, as it were. The most profound thoughts take a while, and honestly, I'm just not that good at expressing myself. Culmination: I realized I missed talking about the wonderful social experience I had that weekend.

In between the paddling (which was plentiful) we hung around with the various members of different reenactment family groups. Many of these people have known me for the better part of my life. Whether they realize it or not, we have "grown up" together. Largely these groups are involved in Iron Age reenactment. But the family feeling has grown quite extensive and some members hold and attend private weekend events, like this one, without ever attending the larger true reenactments.

As I've been absent for the better part of 7 years from all but a few classic SCA events a year, I have missed the smaller family style events. Between the recent Pennsic, women's crafting days, and camping events, I have reconnected with many of the people from my younger days. It has been a real pleasure for me to find them all again. Quite an experience to see where life has taken them, and how they have changed, knowing that I have grown and changed as well.

I have rarely had such a pleasurable time amongst "my people." It turns out I really CAN go home again. And so I have.

But like Steeleye said, when we sat down to visit one last time after helping him clean up "you came for the water, all these other people just came for the view." Yeah, I came for the water; the river. I can never imagine a future life without her. As much as I would like to move south into a warmer environment, I cannot shake the feeling that I would be unhappy without her.

I just read recently that when people move more than 50 miles from their original home their "happiness quotient" falls by something like 30%. As I grew up an Army brat I don't have, and never did, an original home. So I guess that's what the Potomac is for me, my home. As a water baby, competitive swimmer, and now paddler, water has always been central to my life and none more so than this river. From her North Fork on the South Branch, the backdrop for our new-couple's first get-away to where I find myself today, making plans to paddle with Brian tomorrow, she is the river running through my life.

Forgive my nostalgia, at least a bit.