Take Me to The River, Drop Me In The Water

That is an old Talking Heads reference (also a band to add to our pretentious rock list, Les) but it's true. I just love being out on the water; I miss that connection, that feeling of time existing only between smooth paddle strokes. All complications are stripped away for me. It's one place where I simply am. Anyway, a few photos from the 'venture. I didn't take my camera out on the water much, as it was raining one day and the other I was too busy fighting wind.
Mike, Brian, Helen and I in the backseat of Dave and Shelby's truck after finishing up our Saturday program. There were 7 of us in the truck; I sat on Helen's lap for the 20 minute drive. It rained almost the whole time we were on the water, which is never a good way to start a weekend. Mike, Dave and I were running the lower section (with Compton's rapid, a class II wave train that washes out into a deep pool in a canyon) but with the rain it was running high, so two more holes formed where waves normally are. I was lower-mid, standing on a rock with a throw bag and a whistle, directing the kids into the eddy or ready with the rescue rope. Mike was running cleanup at the bottom, collecting those that flipped and Dave was upper-mid in a boat, ready to get early swimmers. Thank God we were ready, because of our 10 boats, 7 flipped. Seven. Ridiculous. It was a friggin' yard sale: kids over here, paddles over there, boats all over the place. Fortuitously (and hilariously) there was a swiftwater rescue course training at Comptons so our first swimmers were nabbed up by the trainees before we could get to them. They asked if they could help with our rescues and we obliged, so even with 7 boats flipping we really didn't have to do much. Here's to you, swiftwater rescue trainees.
Sunday was beautiful, though cold and WINDY. I ran the upper section twice with Mike and Jess (who'd come in for the day) and we never had time to stop for games or the like. The head wind just had us digging in and paddling along shore. Above: The mighty Shenandoah on the upper section. I love the Blue Ridge.


Part of the AL HRA 2007 staff at about 7:30am. From Left to Right: Joanna, a professor at GMU who came out to teach a macroinvertebrate class as part of the land station; Dave, co-director and closest thing I have to a big brother; Helen, who headbutted me in the nose at 3am but I'm not bitter; Tim, who makes everyone else look tiny; Mike, my paddle partner for the weekend; Brian, who was my 18-year-old boyfriend until he was no longer 18 and Shelby, co-director with Dave and the one who tries to keep everyone else in line.
Group shot: Shelby, Mike, Dave, Me, Joanna, Helen and Tim. My people. Now that the HRA program is over, I'm trying to figure out what I have to look forward to next. I like to have some new adventure coming down the pipes and right now there's nothing but work and summer.