GO FORTH

Forget talking about nature from afar. It is time you engaged it up close and personal. Become one with it. Frolic in it. Throw yourself at it and hope you come out alive. Try something completely new. Here is an idea: go to www.otterbar.com and sign up for their fabulous week of kayaking in northern California. It is the best adventure value around. Excellent instruction, gourmet food, beautiful setting, interesting people, decent price. If this West Texas desert rat can do it, so can you! No better way to move outside yourself and live expansively.

You start out in a pond. How hard can that be? Yes, you get wet. Yes, you often view the river while inadvertently cruising upside down in the water. Yes, I received the award for the most "hang time" - the one who spent the most time communing with the fishes. But my week was beyond the box. The Otter Bar folks have never even heard of a box. Give yourself seven days of learning a new skill with the best kayakers in the nation. Reg had me go down one set of rapids with my eyes closed. Scary! Reminded me of this life with God sometimes. Reg beside me in the safety kayak. Me trusting him and letting go of my need to control everything. God delighted me with a winsome river otter swimming beside my boat at the bottom of the rapids. A reward for living to tell the tale.

No, Otter Bar has not paid me for advertising. It is unfair to keep wholesome adventure as a secret. Take yourself. Take your significant other. Take your teens. They have a separate camp for the teens. Yes, the teens will kick your behind on the river. Embarrassing, but true. Think about going for a new kind of family vacation. Or perhaps that silver anniversary. Maybe even a graduation present. In the meantime, visit your local arboretum or hike the trails in the nature preserve or go to your neighborhood park to chase butterflies. Feel Spring warm your face. Go forth. Live. Bring back stories of God and His creation. Up close and personal.
Paddle on,
Joni