It Is Ours

Aluminum painted to look like birch bark. Panned by the critics as useless, not valid for the purpose it was designed. At first it will not budge as if stuck in the water by some new gravitational force, and then as I adjust my stroke and reposition my body it begins to move as I continue and adjust in small increments we become graceful together with the river. It is a dance of finesse that will be refined with each stroke of the paddle, with each new wind and current. Canoe, paddle, water, and man at once separate and yet one.


After the dance begins and the rhythm is established the river and its inhabitants show themselves to the mind now able to focus on more then just the paddle. A Trumpeter Swan stands guard of the hidden nest, willing to fight and sacrifice if necessary to save the next generation and its mate. The Kingfisher lives up to its name before my eyes. A large bass breaks the water after some insect on or above the surface. A snapping turtle not ever afraid but wary never the less submerges, a heron stands in silent, still breakfast vigil. These are the gifts of the river, small treasures exposed to the one who chooses to quietly send his paddle into the flow.

There are other things too; a train trestle waiting for the thundering load that it has been willing to bear for a good part of most of our lives. The distant sound of an eighteen wheeler as it slows itself for the curve. Families heading to town to buy things needed for the weekend on the highway nearby. I see the homes of those lucky enough to have the sense and the dollars to place themselves in daily beauty. This river is not in a wilderness or even remote, it is near and it is ours to enjoy.

The Thames and all its forks have gifts for us from Stratford to Woodstock, Ingersoll, and London and beyond. It is one of those good places it is ours and it is here. You need not go far to dance with canoe and paddle. Do not feel nature is beyond your reach, it is here and now.

When I paddle the Thames in Oxford, Perth and Middlesex I find that I am usually nearly alone. I am not complaining about the solitude but I wish others would come out and dance in this special place.