We play kayak football here as I have mentioned. Recently the game took on a new importance. Apparently the VA uses kayak pool sessions to help some wounded vets get their motor skills sharpened up and help transition them back to a better place mentally. The local VA heard about our game and asked if some of the traumatic brain injury (TBI) vets could play too. Of course!!! So the cry went out and we showed up in full force to play with these guys and gals. The VA kicked in lots and lots of gear and a big bus to transport everything needed. We were there as safeties, teammates, opposing team members and to show them the rules. Its wild playing with these guys. They show up pumped and play as hard as their current state of healing will allow. They are fearless and kind caring deeply about their fellow vets mental place on the water. Some of the guys can get a little bit wrapped up in the intensity of the game and start to shake a bit. I asked one if he was cold and he looked at me oddly and said no. His buddy took him aside and chatted with him and he seemed to find a much better place and played on. It was touching. They sometimes exist in a place I cannot understand because I am not part of their brotherhood. It makes hitting the water Tuesday nights very important. Look into this program in your home town if you live in the US. It might be a good experience. One funny line from Tuesday's game. A long pass was thrown and right when a vet caught the ball another vet yelled very loudly, "Boom!" The guy dropped the ball, turned and laughed. The guy who yelled boom looked at me and said, "That's how you 'eff with a guy who's been blown up." I thought it was great he shared that with me. Jim et al *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
James Farrelly wrote: > We play kayak football here as I have mentioned. Recently the game took on a new importance. Apparently the VA uses kayak pool sessions to help some wounded vets get their motor skills sharpened up and help transition them back to a better place mentally. The local VA heard about our game and asked if some of the traumatic brain injury (TBI) vets could play too. Of course!!! > snip > One funny line from Tuesday's game. A long pass was thrown and right when a vet caught the ball another vet yelled very loudly, "Boom!" The guy dropped the ball, turned and laughed. The guy who yelled boom looked at me and said, "That's how you 'eff with a guy who's been blown up." I thought it was great he shared that with me. > > Jim et al God bless you for this. I am a disabled veteran, so this thank you really comes from the bottom of my heart. I haven't been able to paddle a canoe or kayak since before my first back surgery in 2003. Memorial Day weekend, 2003, a friend and I paddled down the Cache la Poudre River, with excellent Class III- conditions, http://www.dotzen.org/paddler/cpr/ratings.txt but that was almost literally the straw that broke this camels back. I'll never paddle whitewater again, but I do hope to get my kayak [Prijon Yukon Expedition] back in the water next summer. http://smokey.dotzen.org/folks/markz/photo/graphics/mzskww1b.jpg AND thank you PaddleWise members for all of the great trip reports. You keep writing, and I will keep reading!! I paddle vicariously through all of them, and the occasional view of Mark Sanders videos, THANKS MARK!! mark zen *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
For no apparent reason, my Pentax Optio W30 came home from my Catalina trip dead as a doornail. I'm hoping I'll have luck with the warrantee service. (yeah right!) As a result of my fun from last Sunday, the Goodship Lollygagger is leaking/sweating along a 6 inch hairline crack along the keel of my bow. You could whine and cry "woe is me", but I prefer to look at the bright side: any water I take into my front hatch will be compensated by the 6+ dripping holes I found along the keel in my back hatch! Didn't bother to look for holes in the cockpit; that's what the electric bilge pump is for! Then there's the broken Onno... Did I say "woe is me"? Actually most of it occurred having a lot of fun, so it's hard to be too upset. Really, I'm only POed because I lost another sponge! Duane has some video of my Sunday carnage: doing a bit of an endo on my landing in case you'd like to commiserate with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1habCdbuAk Mark Sanders *************************************************************************** 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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