Canoecopia “Canoe a Plenty”

I haven’t strictly journaled in a while. It feels as if I have been using my journal as a holding cell for my blog posts instead of a creative space to jot down thoughts about the week. The blog gets more attention than my journal, because of this I miss out on the opportunity to really let loose and express myself with truly no limits; I really do edit my blog posts. I edit the posts so much that I feel stifled sometimes when I don’t journal, so here I am talking about the problem instead of journaling.

I felt so nervous for the first presentation on Saturday at Canoecopia in Madison, WI. I didn’t feel like I was prepared, I switched a lot of the presentation around at the last minute. Of course, when we got to the room 2 minutes before we present the internet is extremely poor. We ended up reaching out to Jordan from OAR Northwest to use his phone as a mobile hot spot. Once the presentation got rolling we were strapped for time. Being one of the later speakers I had to rush through some of my bit in order to help us fit in our time slot. Having to rush in a presentation was helpful for me to gather my thoughts around a theme and focus, instead of filling my time with fluff which I tend to do when given too much time. The first presentation went great for me even though we had technical difficulties and cut some things short I think we totally nailed it as far as what the audience perceived and the message getting across.

Madison, WI is always a great town to go out and have fun because it’s a huge college town and has all of the amenities associated. We headed out to a divey bar somewhere in town and met up with Jordan and Justin from OAR Northwest, a non-profit based in Seattle. Jordan was part of a world record setting team which rowed across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to England and then rowed from Senegal to Miami as part of an adventure education and research trip. These guys were great because they have a drive to reach and educate as large an audience of students as possible through adventures. This Fall, Jordan and his partner are going to row the Mississippi River in a dory rowboat with plans to physically visit three schools in each state they row through while also virtually connecting with schools through the adventure education model. The Paddle Forward crew plans on sharing all of the information we gathered about the river and connections OAR NW should make along the way. Every through paddle is completely different and these guys doing the river and doing it in a similar fashion as to how we did doesn’t detract from our trip in the slightest. I believe that an adventure education centric trip down the Mississippi River could go off every 80 days all summer and fall every summer and fall and each trip would be different and the impact would never diminish.

The second presentation was in a room at the base of a hotel which provided us with reliable internet and a lot of our friends, family, and supporters were in the audience. We were also the last group presenting in that room for the day so we had all the time in the world to elaborate, tell stories, and answer questions afterwards.

Through that first presentation, I met Matt and Jamie with the Ice Age Trail Alliance. I asked Matt if there were any thru-hiking speed records on the IAT. An ultra-marathoner has run the entire IAT in 22 days and 6 hours while being followed by a support van. As far as I can tell through some very rudimentary research, there is no speed record for an unsupported thru-hike of the IAT. Knowing that tid-bit of information I walked around the Canoecopia vendors area and spoke with a woman at the adidas outdoor booth and she mentioned that adidas sponsors athletes in their endeavors. That discussion of sponsorship got me thinking about how I can make this run on the IAT happen in 2015. I want to reach out to Matt and get more information on the trail and start planning for a departure date of April 1st, 2015. I better start running! More information coming about this on a rolling basis.

I want to make this a reality so badly. I need an individual task and I would love doing something like this. I would love it so much. I can’t believe I have never ever met someone who would be willing to do something like this with me. If anything it’s a committment of time to doing something which most people don’t understand. The ‘why?’ which I constantly hear in reference to my running habits has an answer: I run like I do because I can, it feels incredible, and people tell me I can’t.

Coffee Unlimited

I found a lighthouse shining through the fog of life. The lighthouse stood against the bone chilling waves of frigid air cast down from the Far North to bring misery to the Near North. The lighthouse was called Seward Cafe. Some lighthouses hold 10,000 candle power lamps to guide ships in from the stormy seas but this particular lamp was lit by something far more enlightening; something that drew me in like a moth to flame. That something was: the righteous practice of free refills on coffee so dark, so incredibly dark, so inhumanely dark, that light can hardly escape its gravity. I cannot applaud nor utilize the resource of free coffee refills enough. I sat there in complete contentment sipping my coffee, thoroughly convinced it couldn’t possibly get better than this. Then from the corner of my eye I noticed someone carrying an encyclopedia on a plate with what looked like syrup and powdered sugar on top of the book. What a cruel, cruel existence in which I am expected to concentrate on preparing for a presentation at the Student Outdoor Education Conference in Duluth, MN, while french toast slices the size of a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica are carted around in my vicinity. I persevered with the thoughtful insights of Biz Must, Gartha Eummitt, and Brika Motcher to help keep my eyes on the task at hand and my drool off my keyboard.

We finished our presentation outline under the soothing sounds of the coffee buzzing through our veins. The final product will be on display, from our mouths this Saturday February 8th. I don’t know if you like how inspiration feels when it firmly roots itself in your mind. I do, and if you do too I suggest you get yourself within earshot of the Paddle Forward presentation at that SOEC event. After we shook hands, slapped backs, and applauded our preparation the fellowship disbanded. Then there were two, Brika and myself maintained our positions at the comfortable booth in the uncomfortably green-walled room. It seemed like the perfect time for me to spread out materials for my daily one hour of Russian language study. The papers blanketed the table, the pens flew as I wrote, and the headphones planted themselves resolutely in my ears so as to assist me in learning the proper pronunciations of words.

Some exploits are inexplicable, it can be truly difficult to decipher why exactly this particular thing should be explored. Russian happens to fall into that category for me. The history leading up to what makes Russia how it is today intrigues me, The Cyrillic alphabet confounds me, the Russian people are shrouded in mists of lore, and the countries geographical expansiveness calls to the explorer inside of me. The glorification of Russia in my mind makes me want to discover the truth. I treat a statement of grandeur as I would treat an exclamation of derision; I want to know whether the high handed opinion of others holds true to the reality of my own experience. All the conflicting reports I have read about Russia only make me want to see it for myself all the more. My perception of reality creates the reality I perceive.