The following little gem came from one of my librarian friends, now happily retired on Cape Cod (Massachusetts). While we're on the topic of older paddlers, I thought I'd add this comment. Wonder if these ladies are on any of those wonderful New Zealand trip reports I've just been perusing (thanks for the URL, Doug). Natalie natalie wiest galveston TX > > Did I ever tell you all about the ladies I met canoeing the river in > NH? They were the age I am now, four of them. They did not fit in with > the other canoe crowd at the AMC campsite (at least then). I asked > them why they were canoeing. They said they were a bridge club that got > bored and took up canoeing. The next year they were going to New > Zealand to try it there. They, too, give me hope. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Natalie's post brought back a (non-paddling) memory. When I was in college and escorted rail tours of "the Scenic West" that were still popular, I was able to weekend-over between tours once at a small, rustic lodge at Lake Agnes in the Canadian Rockies, located up behind the heavily toured Lake Louise, not far from Banff. My assigned table-mate for the weekend was a little old lady from Winnepeg, who asked me if I'd like to join her on a birding expedition the following morning. It seemed appropriate, considering the size of the lodge --- just 30 guests at any one time --- that I accept this extraordinarily sharp, active and entertaining 90-something year older, there on her own, and even more appropriate when I realized that she needed a cane to accomodate a minor limp. The following morning after conversations of world events over breakfast --- where she quickly left me in the dust with her memory of detail and awareness and concern for events of the ongoing war in Vietnam --- we set out to go birding. Again, this time literally, she left me in the dust on several trails, hiking up to a site where she thought we'd see the widest array of interesting bird species. Eventually, she mentioned her "bum leg", hoping --- I'm sure to be nice to me --- that she hadn't slowed me down too much. I was honest in my reply, and asked her how long she'd had "her problem" with the leg. She responded that things had never been exactly right in the 25 years since she'd lost everything from just above her right knee in a bad skiing accident. Then, and for more than 35 years, I've wondered about a suitable response to that statement. It isn't age --- it's attitude. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: <JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com> > Natalie's post brought back a (non-paddling) memory. > > When I was in college and escorted rail tours of "the Scenic West" that were > [...] > She responded that things had never been exactly right in the 25 > years since she'd lost everything from just above her right knee in a bad > skiing accident. Then, and for more than 35 years, I've wondered about a > suitable response to that statement. > > It isn't age --- it's attitude. My non-paddling memory is two days old. Another oldster giving a 47 year old youngster a run (well, ski) for his money. Amie brought a family from her running club, the Achilles Track Club, to cross-country ski with us. Achilles is a club for disabled athletes and Amie is a seeing-eye runner in marathons and other runs (three marathons in 2000. She also works with wheelchair athletes and one autistic man.) This family, mom, dad and daughter, are blind. Mom - 100%, dad and daughter 10% vision in one eye. Olga (mom) is pushing 60. Amie was dropped after one kilometer. She yelled at me to take over. I had to guide Olga around the 12 kilometers of trail. Up and down, around turns and past other skiers. Panting (me) all the way. I was near my limit the whole time. Olga barely speaks English. One word she doesn't understand is "slow". I had to chase her down hills, keeping my hand on her arm to lead her, in a partial tuck, around the turns. When I suggested she snowplow to slow down, she said "nyet!." If the average Canadian 20 year old could ski with the gusto she had, we wouldn't be worried about health care costs. This woman - blind! - skied down hills without abandon, down hills that scare lots of skiers with sight. Attitude? You bet! An attitude we should all strive for! Mike PS - Olga has been a gold medal paralympic skier in the past! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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