INTRODUCTION: This blog came to fruition due to several reasons. (1) I needed a central place to share my exciting kayak adventures with my family and friends. Currently, half are on Facebook, the other half I communicate via email and because of that, sometimes I forget to include someone, and (2) I'm embarking on a journey; geographically, physically, mentally & spiritually. I am driven to document and or bore people with its details. It's also my sincere hope that you will travel, learn, laugh with me...and it will feed your soul, as other bloggers have fed mine. I've never been one to journal. The closest I've come to journaling is keeping notes at work, which helped me keep my cranium organized in the task-saturated corporate world I was living in. Let me explain the source of my aversion (to journaling) the same way I recently told a good friend; "My mother read my diary when I was a young girl." Need I say more? So my first challenge will be deciding to what extent I am willing to be vulnerable...sharing...and to what level. The second challenge is....I also have no idea how to 'blog', or is it blogging?....My grammar and spelling will be horrific and my sentences will be written in past, present and future...all at one time. And I will totally blow every college thesis writing requirement. Therefore, comma, I am going to approach this like two good friends sharing stories over a cold beer or glass of wine...in front of a fire pit. The last ? challenge is what the heck to name this blog! I have a yoga background, so it's fitting I name it something along those lines...So I am naming it "Lavanakayak." Lavana is a Sanskrit word for saline, salt, briny..."having salt water" the sea, the ocean. So Lavanakayak...translates to salty kayak. Many references can be found comparing our body makeup being the equivalent to the ocean. In a 2008 New York Times article, it described our body makeup as "Blood can also be thought of as a private ocean, a recapitulation of what life was like for all the years we spent drifting as microscopic, single-celled organisms. Not only is blood mostly water, but the watery portion of blood, the plasma, has a concentration of salt and other ions that is remarkably similar to sea water." Is this relationship to water what calls at us to go to the beach? To take a big cleansing exhalation after inhaling the briny air the moment we get there? Or enjoying licking the salt from our lips after a day on the water? Lavanakayak. It fits for now. FROM JETS TO KAYAKS: In 2018, I retired after 38 years in aviation. I wasn't a pilot, but the next best thing; an Air Traffic Controller (ATC). After retiring from that gig, I was also given the gift of working for the best airline ever: UPS Airline. Both those careers afforded me the ability to fly with some remarkable pilots. I really enjoyed working with pilots because I had an innate ability to understand things their perspective, as well as share mine with them. I had a significant shift & outlook on life after the best boss I ever had, Jim Hamilton, died from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, less than one year after his retirement. It was the ultimate SHIT! story... a great man and soul, who was so good to people and deserved his turn at retirement bliss. Life is too short & money isn't everything, so I retired. Thanks Jimbo! Within a few months of moving to Florida, my kayak paddling began. My husband Scott & I moved to an area that offers a cornucopia of paddling options; from cypress lined rivers, sparkling blue natural springs, and salt water paddling, all within 20 minutes to a 2 1/2 hour drive. During the first year, all of my kayak trips were on rivers & springs. I owe everything I learned the first year to Deborah "Cricket' Blick. Everyone knows Cricket. And Cricket knows Florida because she mapped many hiking trails in Florida for the Florida Trails Association. Thank you Cricket. In April 2019, I attended the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail (nicknamed "CT") Reunion. I didn't know anyone, let alone anything about this "CT". That weekend, a group of passionate kayakers shared stories about their CT adventures...I laughed and shook my head in disbelief at amazing stories of courage to overcome many obstacles. But most of all, I met the coolest, down to earth, genuine & humble people I have ever met (outside my closest circle in aviation)...several which I have developed a good friendships with. This group of special people....SPARKED SOMETHING WITHIN ME that has grown exponentially since this time last year.
1 Comment
Frank Oley
4/26/2020 06:30:19 pm
Great blog Dorsey, So happy to share your excitement and be a part of the adventure! It is so very clear to me that you are all in and very passionate about kayaking. The short experience you introduced me to has left me wanting to do it again! Your words about Jim Hamilton really hit home, he was one of the best human beings I have ever met. Seeing Jim get robbed of his retirement was an eye opening experience for many within our ranks. For this reason I am even more pleased to see you having the time of your life, you deserve it. I hope to share in that excitement in in a few short years so save some fun for me! Have camera, will travel. The first beer is on me! Until then I look forward to reading more of your adventures.
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AuthorDorsey DeMaster embraced kayaking after retiring from 38 years in aviation. She lives near Crystal River, Florida. Archives
August 2021
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