Bass River, Yarmouth, Cape Cod, MA
August 17, 2014
I long ago established that my girls would prefer to not sweat, smell,
or be exhausted. Hiking = all of the above. Sure, it can also be beautiful and
serene, and you can learn about who you are in that moment and grow from it at
the same time. Oh, and it’s a helluva lot safer than taking them mountain
biking with me! But, they’re young and aren’t big fans of sucking up the
discomfort. Well, my foot’s been screwed up for a good chunk of the year so for
months they haven’t had to worry about Dad making them have a great time
whether they like it or not.
My foot messed up my planned August vacation, a big part of which was a
30-plus mile hike through the interior of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
There’s a fine line between pushing yourself and being an idiot. Granted, I
normally leap in some moronic fashion over that line as far as I can. But then
there’s being an idiot and being an IDIOT, complete with Search-and-Rescue
teams. I’ll keep my idiocy in check… this time.
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| If I can't exercise then I can see what makes me feel better: cabernet or merlot. |
So we went to Cape Cod for the week, and I tried things with less
impact on my foot, like mountain biking, cycling, and visiting a vineyard (yummy-delish).
Aside of some minor fiascos like having to lift my mountain bike (and myself) over
a fence to get back to a road, wiping out when I found out the hardpack I was
mountain biking on was actually sand with a thin crust, or being on a road bike
in a surprise downpour, it was fun.
I wanted to carry that sort of Plan B recreation over to my girls, too.
In trying to figure out some way to torture them with both nature and exercise,
we stumbled across an activity we haven’t done often: kayaking. Perfect: it’s
not foot-oriented, it’s up close with nature on a beautiful day, and if they
sweat then the salt water will mask their smell – maybe they’ll even (gasp!) have
a good time.
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| Kayaking the Bass River on Cape Cod |
With some nearby options, we chose to rent from a place adjacent to a
large river and bay. No need to truck the kayaks anywhere, plenty of nooks and
crannies, no strong ocean currents carrying us to Europe… all good. We paired
up with a kid in front and adult in back of a couple of two-person kayaks.
After getting paddles, life jackets, a map, and warnings of areas to avoid (avoiding
the channel several harbors use and the designated high-speed area were a
couple of stellar suggestions), we set out.
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| Good synchronization! |
The girls were a little nervous at first, and there was more of a
current than the pond that was the site of our previous excursions. They’re
also now older than those prior times, and they worked hard to carry their
weight. We had no choice but to cut across a channel, and they paddled hard,
digging until we were on the other side and they could take a breather. Then
they both tried to stay in synch with their grown-up partner. Even though a rule
is that the one in front can do their thing at a steady pace and the person in
back will deal with steering, it was cute to see them looking back to make sure
their strokes were well-timed and taking their performance seriously.
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| Break time! |
It was also nice to see them asking about, or pointing out, things
around them. A lot of your surroundings
get missed when you’re driving by them, or schlepping from Point A to Point B
as you cross weekend chores of your list. But out on the water, like hiking,
you’re more aware of your surroundings, observing more and then thinking about
it. The girls saw a zillion hermit crabs by the water’s edge, which would flee
to the beach grass if you approached. They learned about how the channels work,
and about dredging which taught them more about erosion and how surprisingly impermanent
land can be.
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| It's great to see an expression like that! |
This also meant that we could bond in a way that’s harder to do when
you’re running errands or dealing with some of the normal grind. As I try hard to
get chores out of the way during the week, the extra time for quality events
pays off. I could get a glimpse into the mind of my daughter as she has an
experience in which she gets better at paddling, taking advantage of, as she
calls them, her “disposable thumbs.” I can’t trick them as I did when they were
younger and the world more mysterious – like convincing my youngest that only
little people lived in the nearby town of Littleton, or that each denim leg is
a “jean”, and since there are two legs it’s a “pair of jeans”. But the world is
still vast and fascinating to them, as it should be, and whether it’s a joke or
education, I realized activities like this offer boundless opportunities to
connect and for them to grow.
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| Looks like we were back first - we win! |
After navigating around the bay for a couple of hours and making it
safely back to port, we turned in our supplies and headed home. The store
liquidates its fleet every year, and we had the chance to purchase discount
kayaks. We passed, but it led to discussion. Later that day, I probed the girls
to see if it was worth the investment. Would they use them? Would it get
boring? Would it be something else Dad forces them to have fun doing? Their
thoughts were interesting: yes, it wore their arms out, but that’s not as bad
as leg fatigue. If they started sweating, they could use the water surrounding
them to cool themselves off. One was interested in the two girls learning to
use a kayak without a grown-up. The other was interested in trying different
types of water, from shallow to deep, ponds, lakes, rivers, and even the ocean.
Both could see using it locally or going further afield, and being a good way
to make a boring day into a ready-made field trip. So, they spoke to an
interest in it, and enough scenarios in which I wouldn’t be dragging them
reluctantly along.
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| I hope to have more moments like this next year! |
Bottom line from this experience is that my injury may have wound up
finding a way for the girls to push themselves, to connect more with the world
around them, to have an activity with Dad that can be a bonding experience. And
although fatigue and body odor will exist, they aren’t disqualifiers. I’m not
sure how it’ll turn out, but it holds good promise. The warm weather will be
winding down, but it’s a good thing to ponder as we soon turn our attention to
ski slopes, where the cold keeps B.O. at bay, mental challenges are disguised
as fun, and fatigue is quickly forgotten in the face of hot chocolate and
another run down the slopes.
See you on the trails,
Jay Bell, AKA RockHopper
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