Three Weeks Down

A Sense of History

January 23, 2018 Comments (0) journal

Tuesday Morning Scramble

It’s the kind of a morning where one thought leads to another so quickly that, at some point, I stop and try to remember how I got here. Perhaps it’s a sign that there is a busy schedule ahead, and there are more than a few things still undone that are going to need some attention, and soon. For whatever the reason, these items are on my mind. Offered by way of an update…

The DC trip is coming up soon. Second week of February, Micah and I will be joining others from the Surfrider Foundation in the other Washington, talking to members and their staffs about offshore drilling, marine plastics and other ocean realities that we still have the power to change. I’m looking forward to taking the boy to the capital city, to spending some time with dedicated ocean champions from all over the country, and to having the opportunity to speak about what is important to all of us with those in positions of power.

I’m getting on the water a bit more. The recent WFR course didn’t allow much free time but things are improving. I’m going to need to put more time in, especially if I’m thinking about a race.

As to getting on the water, I’m thinking about an article I’m doing about stand-up paddleboarding on the Columbia River. I’ve paddled the Hanford Reach before, from the Vernita Bridge into Kennewick, and I’ve been out in other places up and down the river but there is still plenty I haven’t seen yet. I need to plan that trip too, yes?

The other thought, the one about a race, is tied directly to the kayak I’m making out of foamed plastic beach debris. Actual chunks of foam that have washed ashore here on Salmon Beach that I am trying to sculpt into some sort of seaworthy craft. (To call it a “kayak’ is actually a bit presumptuous, at this point.) There is a lot about this boat and this process that I don’t know, that I am making up as I go along. I hope it works.

Over all of it are thoughts about the South Kuiu Cleanup, coming up this July. I’m going to be spending a significant portion of today trying to get some of those ducks lined up, if only for a moment. I know that the tasks at hand will eventually be completed, it will all come together and the program will be a good one. There are a large number of moving parts in an undertaking of this size and you have to lay the tracks before the train can roll.

There’s more, a lot more, but I hope this gives a sense of where my head is at on this breezy January morning. It’s complicated.