buttcheeks wet and soul lubricated
alternative title: the day i discovered i love kayaking
Two Saturdays ago, I tried out kayaking for the first time. A local Queer-Asian community group posted about the event and I was looking for something to do so I signed up for it. They said no experience kayaking was required, it was a free event (I still donated of course), and we were going to clean up the lake so it seemed like a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I at least have a lot of experience swimming so I knew I wouldn’t drown if something went wrong. I was one of the few people there who have never paddled before though so I was playing catch up for most of it. I’m just relieved that I was never the very last person even though I was usually close to the tail end of the group.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and it felt like a private group outing on the lake. However, most of us did not get much garbage picked up because of the fire ants. I did see some small trash that I could’ve attempted to fish out but I was afraid I would capsize. I was struggling to get the hang of paddling and steering at the same time. At one point, I got stuck in the middle of some parked mini boats. I had to quickly figure out how to paddle in reverse to free myself. There were a lot of Canadian geese in the water and I was very concerned I would accidentally drive into them and get attacked. Also, there were so many of us in the group that it sometimes felt like we were on water bumper cars.
Deciding to do this with no prior experience was definitely not a walk in the park but I enjoyed the challenge! Why do that when I can kayak on the lake instead? I’m now reflecting on how I would not have been able to attend an event like this last summer. With how terrible my social anxiety was, you would have had to drag me kicking and screaming. Anyways, I’ve signed up for a kayak lesson for this upcoming Saturday. I had so much fun that I’m now planning on going out on the water a few more times before the summer ends. It seemed wise to at least learn the basics so that I can confidently go by myself. The community I went with also just posted that they’re planning another event for the end of August so I will try my best to go. I would love to actually be useful next time and help keep the lake clean.
i arrived at the beach too early so i had some time to snap photos
swim at own risk!
i think these were seagulls?
i love desire paths
ahh... i miss sand
louis! he is such a good boy. he went kayaking with us.
one of the few photos i took on the water because i was scared of dropping my phone
the only decent selfie i managed to take
my gear for the day. my outfit was not very suitable for the activity...
wet dog louis after an afternoon out on the lake
dry dog pompompurin because he stayed behind guarding my bag
the chinese restaurant i had my dinner at after had this framed art piece up