July 20

July 20, 2020

Our New Zealand guests have departed. It’s time to get serious. I’ll be rowing first thing Wednesday.

 “Getting serious” includes deciding what comes into the boat and what stays home. A portage through Ticonderoga - the only way to move from Lake George to southern Lake Champlain via la Chute - calls for the lightest boat possible. For those who might be interested, here’s what’s in the larder so far: Star Kist Tuna and Chicken pouches, dried fruit and vegetables, lots of water and juice, beef jerky of assorted seasonings, peanuts and peanut butter, instant coffee, a massive flat of Double Stuff Oreos (don’t tell anyone), and a credit card with which to hunt food when I go ashore. I’ll be ashamed if I tip the scales after 300+ miles and find I’ve gained a few. Could happen.

Additionally, a stout life jacket, assorted cushions for the sliding seat, some light tools and spare hardware, my tent, sleeping bag, camp stove, sun protection, and coolers and dry-bags to hold everything…my dream of a light boat is fading fast. If I bring it I’ll have to haul it, and there’s some justice in that. And unique to this row will be masks and hand sanitizer as well. I want to respect the protocol of any place I put in, and that will include being smart and empathetic about COVID concerns. We hit 140,000 today…..

After four consecutive days of south winds – the perfect wind for my first day – the flags lie limp this morning. It would be wonderful if Wednesday morning’s breeze could offer a little push towards Ticonderoga, but it will be what it will be. Over the next ten days I’ll see it all and it will all average out, and if I’ve learned one thing from rowing 3,000 + miles in trips like this, the thing is to just get started. (The English teacher in me hated to split that infinitive, but sometimes the voice commands the grammar….perhaps?)

Today and tomorrow will be odd moments. Buzz Lamb has been working on an article about the row for the next Lake George Mirror, Nancy at the Lake George Association has been receiving this writing as a way of preparing some content for the impending LGA fundraising effort, and since none of this has happened yet, I feel a bit like I’m writing into a vacuum. It will be good to start rowing on Wednesday morning and to be reporting in briefly each night from my watery highway. Years ago a beloved teaching colleague gave me a wooden plaque inscribed with Rainer Maria Rilke’s statement, Alles ist austragen und dann gebaren, which translates as “Everything is gestation and then bringing forth.” I guess that’s where we are right now….austragen.  Wednesday we’ll gebaren.

Peace, love, and happiness…and stay healthy!