Messed Up Priorities

Did you know that River Rafting trumps Amadou & Miriam (free?) and that World Cup games trump river rafting (before you're on water, of course), and that Body Pain trumps productivity post-river rafting?

Yes, Saturday morning I woke up at Camp Lotus after flitting about like a moth (I arrived in the evening) from friend to friend catching up and hugging and eating and getting to know the crew I would be boating with on Saturday.

I arrived in my wide-brimmed hat I got in Albuquerque last year and light blue flax dress (thanks to Maritza and Frances fashions). Kabobs were cooking on the grill. Life was good.

I did quick shopping on Friday before arriving home and being picked up by trip organizer Dana's friend Ryan to carpool.
Somehow in my obscession to buy organic and healthy I got tofu and string cheese and all manner of fruit. I estimated in my brain that I spent about 40 bucks worth of food and vitamins that would feed me over the weekend and some would feed me til payday. When she totaled my groceries it totalled to almost 90 bucks.

What the hell?

Oh yes, I forgot, I bought almost 13 bucks worth of cherries?!?!?!?!

Note to self: no more organic cherries. Risk carcinogenic pesticides until I jump a tax bracket.

I wanted to be generous by sharing stuff. but JESUS....

I quickly drove home, separated my weekend food from my rest of the week food and got home about 15 minutes after my rendezvous time with my carpool pal. Crap.

I quickly gather clothing, vitamins, food, wet suit, sleeping bag and tent.

I'm just about to gather the toiletries for the weekend, and doorknock.

Let me explain the state of my studio to you.

I still have stacks of boxes and piles of clothes and books and stuff ready to be sorted, but other than my "altar" of pictures and momentos and the kitchen, my house is in a certain amount of chaos. I was embarassed to let him in.

"Hey, Ryan!"

I'm sherpa-ed out with my stuff, bent over with 4 bags and as we're stepping out the door it almost comes as an afterthought for him to ask, "Want help?"

"Yes." Chivalry is such an endangered species.

We gas up in his Buick (which rocks, because it was just recovered from Hunters Point in San Francisco) and head up to Lotus, California, a Mecca of river rafting in Northern California and a portal to the South Fork of the American river, the most rafted river in the United States. He had awesome tunes on tape and I brought some of my stuff and we went back and forth between Madness and PMP #20 (Witness). We talked music, the trip went by pretty fast, considering the plug of traffic before the Carquinez Bridge.

My friend Dana from Friends of the River had organized a weekend trip.

Bring back the kabobs...

I get excited on the river. It feels more and more like home. The sky is spattered with stars and the constant sound of the rushing river is soothing.

I popped up my tent and chatted and chatted and chatted, ate, and helped clean up.

Twas good.

11 pm. Time for sleep. 6 am wake up time.

(I'm SO sad right now...there's a version of "C'mon, Eileen" that has lyrics prompting England to win the World Cup...BUT, HELLO!?!?!?!?!? Dexys Midnight Runners was an IRISH band....sheesh). I've not been inspired by ANY world cup themes this year.

Anyway, I woke up early, a little sore from the rough ground, but I freshed up in the shower with a plush stall, hot water, and a movable shower head. I have never used a movable shower head. My shoulders were SORE from the rough ground and I thought I would play with the pulse setting.

Duuuuuuuuuude. I found one of my new favourite things in the world and I think I will try to buy myself one for my birthday. I felt like a warm massage was working the knots out of my shoulders and all I had to do was hold the magic wand.

I also feel like I have been ignorant for way too long in my life of the magic of this invention.

So post shower I had my breakfast and we organized and prepared for boating!

Before our 11 am launch I helped organize lunch, pump boats, get and fill water jugs, and rig an oar boat. Our head guide Blaine was awesome and had a truck with two batteries which meant we could fill our boats with air with two pumps. This made pumping boats EASY, mang.

Our crew was about half men and woman and about half newbies and seasoned boaters. My guide Aaron was a hilarious rock star who was also a school teacher who spent some time in Hawaii. Nice.

Dana gave a thorough safety talk. No questions?

Good. It's 105 degrees and 11 am. LET'S GO BOATING!

Lots of rock and roll on the water on Saturday.

But the thing I savored most was my free-floating in the water.

Swimmers' Rapid came up and I volunteered to jump in the water and flow. The initial shock was chilly, but then I relaxed and saw the blue sky above me, the glass of water around me and I felt suspended in Life itself. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful and I felt connected with a capital C.

The day ended with a ninja takeout, rolling boats and putting up gear, reviewing pictures from the trip, and dinner at Marco's, a local joint in Coloma. Ryan wanted to stay the night instead of going back to the Bay that night. I agreed, but obscessed about missing the Germany/Sweden game and the Argentina/Mexico game. Germany won. Argentina won.
I wanted to see England/Ecuador and then Portugal/Netherlands on Sunday.

There was a slide show featuring world-class kayakers. Sam Drevo and a few others were showing bits of their trips all around the world to persue boating.

He and his crew actually considered going over Victoria Falls in Uganda. Um, that's 350 feet high. They had to rappel with their boats down the falls to check out the pool at the bottom. Only when paddling the lake at the bottom of the falls and deciding it churned too much did they opt out of going over.

The American River is classified as a class III river. It's fun and any consquences of falling out of the boat will probably not be serious. Class VI is considered "death".

These dudes were running rivers that had rapids classified as "minus 1, 2, and 3", rolling and being tossed out of kayaks and swimming upsidedown in them for a mile or so.

That is bravado, y'all.

After the slide show we went back to camp and I wanted downtime. I sat by the river and thought about the stars, my river experiences, and my need for this trip after knowing my dad is okay, starting my class and knowing that will go okay, and having a moment where I could just sit with myself.

My eyes welled up with tears, but I am not sure why.

I noticed the sound of the river and other campers. I noticed the effects of flashlights as they lit up the other bank. I wondered how quiet Washington was crossing the Delaware and how heavy those wooden boats must have been.

After about an hour I stood up, got my stuff from my tent and did the evening routine.

I went to bed thinking of that moment suspended with water after Swimmers Rapid. I fell asleep reliving the moment of sun on my face and being suspended in absolute bliss. Sore muscles were soothed by that.