I Got Dumped

last Saturday i went kayaking with my roommate and friends down some river that is pretty calm.  it was my first time.  i loved it.  i love water.  i love boats.  i loved my rowing class in Philadelphia, so i figured this was just a rougher extension.  

mandy the roommate (my second roommate named Amanda, both of similar looks, come to think of it) put me in the lightest kayak.  i guess this means it naturally goes the fastest.  a mile or so down the river, i ended up significantly ahead of the rest.  just around the river bend, i noticed rapids and the river forking around a chunk of land.  i was unconcerned, as i'd already gone over a bit of roughness before when i was still with everyone, and it was all smooth sailin'.  since i'd noticed the others a bit worried about me making it over the first ones,  i was sort of excited to go at these alone and have to figure out how to balance and steer.  i was pocahontasly confident that such dexterity would come naturally. 

the elements of nature like to find ways to humble us when we consider them so lightly.

i did well over the first half of the stuff, adding to my pompousness.  then my kayak stopped heeding my direction, and began following a current that was headed for a big ol' bunch of trees hanging down over the river.  no biggie.  i made it past one branch.  then the next.  and i never had to deal with the third.  that's because somehow i was suddenly under the kayak instead of in it.  it was like someone had picked the kayak up like a cup of water and dumped me in the sink.  glass of heather on the rocks.  i thought at that moment that now would have been a good time for a life jacket, but i didn't dwell on that much. nor did i mourn more than an "argh" at my suddenly bare feet.  i was more concerned about keeping the kayak.  i grabbed it and snagged the oars.  realizing it wasn't going to flip back over (i'd forgotten to ask what to do if i got dumped) i just did my best to hop on top and ride it out.  

so, i lost my shoes by kept the boat.  fair trade.  i'd do it again.  that silly river, it was nothin'.