RE: [Paddlewise] A story

Hi John,

That was superb.  Maybe Fables are really the way to teach.  I could easily
replace a portion of one of my lectures with this.

Thanks for a great tale.

Cheers,

--
Rob Cookson
		3 Hats Design
		INTERNET  PRINT  ILLUSTRATION
		5201 15 Ave NW
		Suite 220
		Seattle, WA 98107
		206.851.8202 direct line
		206.784.1641 main office phone
		206.784.2231 main office fax
		mailto:rob_at_3hats.com
		http://www.3hats.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of 735769
> Sent: Friday, March 24, 2000 5:12 AM
> To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> Subject: [Paddlewise] A story
>
>
> On the western coast of Ungava Bay the dwarf shrubs, ancient and gnarled
> like old men, grow huddled in the hollows between the rocks.
> Here the great
> western wind rules with an iron hand striking down anything with the
> audacity to rise too high. The plants have learned the lesson and are not
> deceived by a calm.  For days the wind will rest over an oily sea
> and then,
> with a smell of distant shores, a whisper of breath, and it
> begins to swell
> with power.  Sweeping the sea birds in its path, crashing upon
> the mud flats
> turning the sea to a dull, silt  brown  and tossing great rotting rows of
> seaweed over the rocks and into the cracks where they bake in the long
> summer days, the western wind rules over all in its path.
>
> I am told this is a true story by the men who live there.
>
>
> The people of Ungava live a harsh life always on the edge of
> starvation. No
> man knows where the seals go when they leave or why and so, the
> hunters must
> follow in their kayaks. Sometimes they travel great distances. From
> childhood the men learn to paddle. All of the hunters of  Ungava were
> skilled paddlers and all could roll their kayaks when an accident befell
> them. All, that is, except Tuktosook. Tuktosook could not abide his head
> under water and all attempts to teach him to roll failed. He was a great
> amusement to the other hunters. Sometimes his friends would sneak
> up behind
> him and capsize his kayak but Tuktosook would bail out and hold on to the
> boat until rescued cold and shivering. Always he had a great smile on his
> face as if he enjoyed the game but never would he try to roll. As he grew
> older and stronger he tired of the game and would simply stay far enough
> away to avoid being dumped. His father ridiculed him for not learning to
> roll but that did no good for Tuktosook just went about his business.
> Eventually his father gave up.
>
> "Someday you will drown Tuktosook. Then you will wish you had learned to
> roll". his father said.
>
> Even though Tuktosook  could not roll he was a strong and wise paddler.
> Better than his friends he could read the sky and smell the  western wind
> long before anyone else knew of the coming danger.  When Tuktosook smelled
> the wind he stayed ashore and when other hunters came back from the hunt
> with tales of narrow escapes Tuktosook would have nothing to say. Many
> considered him a dull man and the girls laughed behind his back because he
> had no tales to tell and would sometimes stay ashore with the
> women when the
> other men went hunting.  They said he lacked courage. Sometimes
> not all the
> men would return and those who did told tales of capsizes and
> daring rescues
> and the women would weep over lost husbands and marvel over the skills and
> bravery of those who survived.
>
> One day Tuktosook smelled something in the wind and warned his father and
> brothers not to go hunting. But the sea was glassy smooth and they laughed
> at him and called him "old woman". Tuktosook ran from hunter to hunter
> urging them not to go telling them that the western wind was
> coming and that
> he carried great power. "Tuktosook, you are a coward. We must hunt. Our
> children cry out for food."
>
> Tuktosook told them to wait that they could always hunt another day but to
> no avail. The men paddled out upon the smooth, innocent rolling sea in
> search of seals.
>
> When the storm came it showed no mercy and many days passed and the rocks
> were coated with rotting sea weed far up from the water's edge.
> Everyday the
> women scanned the horizon and wept searching for even the
> smallest dot or a
> single flash of a paddle. None appeared.
>
> When the storm abated Tuktosook went hunting. He returned with a fat seal
> and the starving people ate  but no other hunter ever returned.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> John Winters
> Redwing Designs
> Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769
>
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