Never Go to Bed Mad...

Those were the first words my Father-in-Law spoke to me after my wife and I exited the church on our wedding day. It wasn't an edict or some sort of forewarning, but rather a piece of advice offered by a man who had successfully negotiated almost 40 years of marriage. That moment, along with many others, defined my relationship with "daddy".

The first time I met my future In-Laws was just after Shell and I started dating... we met them for lunch at Nicholas Restaurant in Portland (http://nicholasrestaurant.com/). Shell warned me to be careful shaking hands with her dad, because he had pretty severe arthritis. I tend to have a pretty firm handshake, so I was understandably nervous. With this in mind, I practiced shaking hands lightly, when Shell wasn't looking in the days coming up to the lunch (I don't think I ever told her that). When the time came to shake hands with Daddy, I did the lightest grip I could, without being a dead fish, and he immediately "yelped". I went white, until he started laughing... so began my relationship with the man who would become my Father-in-Law.

Over the intervening time, I got to know Daddy and grew to admire him, not only as the man who was the father of my best friend and wife, but also as a man who served his country in the Navy, crossed the equator, visited exotic places too numerous to name, became an accomplished wood worker and was a well of information for me on subjects ranging from history, to wood working, to gardening, home repair, etc, etc, etc.

Some guys have difficulty dealing with their Father-in-Law... such was not the case for me. I relished the time Shell and I would visit her folks... mornings would bring coffee, Suduko, crosswords and breakfast at the kitchen table... He and I would chat about anything and everything. Usually focusing on mine and Shells' life together and our plans. Our days were generally spent helping around the house on projects... replacing a door frame, re-building a backyard garden pool, cutting down trees, or whatever it might be or whatever might be needed. I told him, very early on, that I grew up on the suburbs, so working around a 2 acre former lavender nursery didn't come naturally to me... essentially, patience with my fumbling would probably be a necessary component of me helping out. However, no matter what I was working on, Daddy would let me figure out the task, offering advice when needed and allowing a suburbs-raised kid to learn how to use his hands... I would occasionally catch a wry smile on his face as I messed something up and would have to do it all over again... a smile that would grow larger as I finally got it right.

Daddy liked wine, Black Butte Porter and Diet Coke... all of which I got to share with him on several occassions. We both liked beef jerky and he would pick me up the good homemade stuff from a local meat market by their house... that beef jerky propelled me down the Rogue River in February of this year... Daddy made sure I had some for the trip, because that's just how Daddy was...

Daddy loved things of beauty... at the beginning of May (which was the last time Shell and I were able to visit before he got sick), he made sure we were able to visit a friend of his to secure huge flower baskets for our house... again, that's just how Daddy was.

I don't know if he realized that he wasn't just my wife's father, but, I'm proud to say, he was also my friend.

We lost Daddy on Sunday, May 31, 2009 after a heroic battle against illnesses that zapped his stregth, but never his spirt. I say heroic, because in all the times we worked on projects together he never once complained. Rather, he was always right there, watching, helping when he could... always eager to laugh with me at my mistakes and always willing to help me get it right.

I'm thankful I got to see him one last time on Saturday... he opened his eyes and talked to all of us and laughed the way he did. I'll always remember and cherish the last time he looked at me; I was helping him into a bed we had set up in the living room for him... he opened his eyes wide and looked at the bed and I said "I bet you're wondering where the hell did that come from."... he looked at me and say "yea". I laughed as he made a little smile, glad that I had gotten to know this man.

I'm going to miss you Daddy, though I know you'll be there when I finally get the space to set up the table saw you and mom got me for Christmas and everytime I try to build something or haul out the powerwasher you and mom got me... watching over me and helping me get it right. As always, thanks for being patient with the kid from the suburbs and for all your help!

Love,

Your Son-in-Law...

jim

A longer than scheduled absence...

It never ceases to amaze me just how busy life can be. One minute you are coasting along, not much going on in life, the next you barely have enough time to sleep. Seems like that has been the case for Shell and, well, since late March.

Where to start... well, I paddled some between my last posting and the Hotel Charley premiere. Headed back to the Bruno Mtn. Section of the Santiam much to my delight. It was running at about 1200 CFS, which was about 300 CFS higher than the day Aaron and I ran it way back in spring 2007. Paddled the Hood in the weeks after that, which is always a good time.

The Hotel Charley premiere was great! Shell and I were joined by a bunch of friends to paddle the Middle White Salmon beforehand, which was running at a fun 3 feet. Shell and I went down to visit my parents in Bend to celebrate Easter and my mom's birthday. Had my first round of golf that weekend, which for a former golf professional is a sobering, frustrating and magical experience.

The following weekend, Shell and I drove up to see our friends, Lanson and Mandi Oukrop, to join them for the opening weekend of the Yakima Valley vineyards. It was a blast... Lanson and I got a couple of rounds of golf in, which was great fun!

Shell and I got a Friday paddle on the Clackamas in the following week with some friends. The river was running about 2100 CFS, which is one of the best flows for that section, in my opinion. We had a great dinner afterwards at Gustav's Pub in Clackamas, which prompted my buddy Aaron and I to reminice about our respective trips to Germany after graduating from high school.

Last weekend I traveled back to Michigan to retrieve the contents of my storage area and have it moved to mine and Shell's home here in Portland. While I was there I got to spend some quality time with my best friends from law school, which prompted me to realize that you should never allow yourself to have 2 year gaps between seeing friends... it is far too long!

This coming weekend, I'm heading down to Bandon Dunes golf resort with my dad for our annual father/son golf trip... it should be great! The Bandon Dunes golf course are all rated within the Top 50 golf courses in the country, so I'm looking forward to the challenge... cool pics to follow!

Finally, Shell and I decided to put our house on the market and look for something a little larger and closer to downtown Pdx...

WOW... has that been the last month of my life?!? Oh well, I can't really complain... I got to spend time with friends, family and my lovely wife... really, what else is there in life?

So, that's my update... I'll be back with some more consistent postings after the Bandon trip... until then, enjoy every minute you have like it was your last!

j

Hotel Charley Tour Announced

What is Hotel Charley you ask? Well, it's just the best darned kayaking film series known to humankind, which happens to be the product of some very cool people and friends of mine and Shell's: Jesse Coombs and Ben Stookesberry.

Not only are these guys fantastic boaters and ambassadors for our sport, they are genuinely nice guys. You can find a link to thier company "Clear H2O Films" and to their boat brand of choice (which also happens to my own): Jackson Kayak, here on my blog. However, if anyone wants to quickly know where they can see Hotel Charley 4 "At Your Own Risk", here are the recently posted dates and locations: http://www.jacksonkayak.com/articles/article.cfm?directory=articles09&article=200903253

If you love adventure films, kayaking, both or just want to show your support for some really great guys, you owe it to yourself to come on out and see this film.

I'll see you on the river!

jim

Paddling and Running and Drinking, OH MY!

Life is way too short not to have fun... Here are 2 cases in point:

Back on March 7th, I met my buddy Lanson Oukrop from Richland, Washington up in Hood River to paddle the White Salmon River. It was running at about 2.5 feet, which is a great flow. Lanson hadn't been in his boat for about a month, after having surgery on his nose. Plus, we hadn't had a chance to paddle together since September, on the White Salmon conincidentally. So, we were both looking forward to the outing.

It was a great time and we joing some other friends from the Hood River area. The weather was great, as was the paddling. Lanson and I finished off the day at the 6th Street Pub in Hood River for some well deserved sustaninance, before heading back home. Here are a few pics... more can be found at http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd142/spartankayaker/MWS%20March%207%202009/.

The following weekend, Lanson and his wife Mandi came down to Portland to join Shell and I in the 2009 Portland Urban Iditarod (http://www.keepportlandweird.org/urbaniditarod/). Shell and I have done this together for the last 2 years, but this was Lanson and Mandi's first year. Just to give you an idea of this event, you assemble 4+ people, dress in costume, procure a shopping cart from a local establishment, strap yourself to the cart and run through the streets of Portland (stopping at 5 bars along the way) barking like dogs... with regard to this last point, the start coincides with the start of the Alaskan Iditarod, so it makes sense. However, I'm pretty sure they don't bar hop. Shell and Mandi took up the mantle to create our team costumes (Pajama SuperHeros), which was tame compared to some teams, but garned us all some SWEET lounging wear.

Friday night, the girls headed out to get their nails done and hang out in our hot tub, while Lanson and I took off for the required team captain (yours truly) meetings and to catch a kayaking video premiere in Pdx. Mainly, Lanson and I were headed out to have a few beers, which we accomplished nicely.

Saturday dawned and it was windy and rainy, but, hey, IT'S PORTLAND, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SOME RAIN. Here is our official team photo, but you really need to look at all the pics here to get a flavor (http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd142/spartankayaker/2009%20Pdx%20Urban%20Iditarod/) and, YES, the further into the photo album you get, the longer we have been running and bar hopping. We all had a BLAST and are already planning our costumes for next year (stay tuned).



Sunday we hit the Gateway Breakfast House, which is right by where Shell and I live, for breakfast. If you are ever in Portland, you really should eat here... it has, in my humble opinion, some of the best food in the Rose City. Afterwards, we all headed down to Portland's Saturday Market to wander a bit before our friends headed back home.

Until next time, get out there and enjoy the friends you are blessed with. Life is too short not to spend quality time with them and let them know they have a meaningful impact on your life.

See you on the river (or running from bar to bar in my pajamas)

j

Hood River Revisited

I finally got a chance to head back up to the Hood River over the weekend. It had been over a month since I last paddled the Hood, which was the weekend of my ugly swim... I NEEDED to get back up there to confront the after effects of this swim.

Now, in my opinion, kayaking is one of those sports where overthinking can be detrimental to a person's enjoyment. This isn't to say that scouting or looking at a rapid isn't beneficial or even needed on occasion. What I'm talking about is letting your mind wander out of the moment while in a rapid can really mess with you. See, when I'm paddling at my best, I'm totally in the moment, reacting to and with the water... essentially, I become a part of the water. When you start to think about what is happening or will happen... like, "oh boy, that's a big hole there, I really hope I don't flip and have to roll... wait, what if I miss my roll... oh, that would be bad, there is another rapid right below it... well you can see how that could impact your feeling of "oneness" with the water. That January swim started me down the path of thinking... a very bad place to be, for sure.

Now, I'm no Psychiatrist, but I figured the best thing to do was to head back up to the Hood and face down the demons that had been plaguing my head for the over a month. Either I would come away feeling better and at peace with my paddling or, well, I'd be a basket case.

Saturday dawned and I geared up for the drive out to Hood River, Oregon. Flows were going to be on the low side of good, so I felt pretty good about the trip. My buddy Mike Glass (who was with me on that fateful day in January) and I met a few friends at the Kayak Shed in Hood River and a paddling buddy of mine from the Tri-Cities in Washington, Jim Gaines, drove down to paddle. The group was on that I felt really comfortable with, so I was feeling even better about the trip.

We quickly got shuttle set up and headed up to the put-in. I was a little nervous as we slid out into the river, but after we got through the first rapid, I started to calm down a bit. The water was cold and the wind was blowing, so we all hunkered down to keep warm. The Hood at this flow (4.25 feet) is a fun Class III/III+ish boulder gardeny run, that allows you to really work on your "read and run" skills, as well as your eddy hopping skills. I hit a couple of really deep braces early on, which garnered a slap on the back from my buddy Mike and started to feel in the grove as we moved down the river.

Each rapid seemed to flow very smooth for me and I had that seamless feeling of being at home in the water. We quickly approched Island Rapid (Class IV) and we all dropped in, picking our lines through this technical boulder garden. Once through, I think I produced the loudest whooping and hollering I'd done since January... I felt great! As I looked downstream, I noticed that, just around the corner was the place that knocked me out of my boat back in January... to be honest, I tensed up a little and felt a little bit of fear creap in. However, as I mentioned in my last post, fear is a part of life and I was resolved to make it my companion on this adventure and not my adversary.

Here on the Hood, the river makes a hard right hand turn and piles into a large headwall and then makes an immediate left hand turn around a huge rock on river right that, at higher flows, becomes a huge hole (this is where I got thrashed). I saw my line against the wall and executed it just right and then nailed my line well to the left of the large rock and took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief.

As I passed the spot where I came out of my boat, I began to relive that day in January... I could feel the cold of the water against my face and hear the noise of the river as I pushed out of my boat... Mike paddling over to me and us not being able to get into the eddy above the next drop... his apologizing for not getting me to shore and us dropping into the 100+ yard long rapid... me letting go, so he wouldn't get swamped in the holes that were bashing us around... it was as if I was there all over again. I saw the lead in and the spot where I let go of Mike's boat and I got a real appreciation for how far I swam that day... it was a LONG way. I moved my down, dodging rocks and holes that had beaten me up that day in January and spotted the root ball that I grabbed, giving me a brief respite during this swim... it was nearly 3 feet above the water level. (on that day in January, it was about 3 inches above the water.) I then saw the tree branch that I grabbed to get out of the water and remembered thiusing my last bit of engery to grab that branch and swing into the eddy... it was a very lucky grab. I pulled into the eddy right across from my January exit point and just sat there for a moment. I felt a little choked up, not really sure why, but I guess I just felt so grateful to be there, with great friends on a beautiful river. My buddy Jim paddled by and I peeled out to meet him. I told him the story and his eyes just went wide and said, "Man, that is a long swim!". I just laughed and said, "Yea, you should have been there."

We bounced through the 5 or so rapids that characterize the end of the the Dee to Tucker section of the Hood and met everyone at the take-out. We were all smiles and laughs.

We all headed to the Hood River Taqueria for some excellent Mexican food and beer with great friends before heading back to our respective homes. Personally, I headed home to sit with my lovely wife and tell her about my day... she knew how important this run was for me and was eagerly awaiting my return and the story of my day. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

You know, I feel privileged to be a whitewater kayaker. I don't claim to be a great boater, or even a particularly good boater, but I love it. Unlike any other sport, it allows me to see something in myself... to push myself in an environment that is both specularly beautiful and, at time, dangerous. I am, indeed, a very lucky guy!

Until next time, take some time to see the world around you. Not just from the window of your car or home, but up close and personal. Once you are there, you won't regret it.


jim

Why...

So, I've been thinking a lot about kayaking lately. For no particular reason really, I've just been considering the question most people ask me: "Why do you kayak?" To them, well, it looks like about the most frightening thing a person could do. I don't know if that is the case, cause I can think of a lot scarier things a person could do. Now, I'm not going to say that I don't feel fear when I slip into my boat and let the current pull me down stream. Heck, since my swim on the Hood in January, I've had more than my share of fear. That said, fear is a part of life. In proper amounts, it can be health and protect us (seriously, for untold generations it has kept us humans out the mouths of any number of creatures). I do believe that you have to learn to handle your fear and channel it into something that guides you through the type of adventures that bring it about. I recently read a quote by Susan Jeffers that, I think, sums it up nicely:

"We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a

companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures."

So, why do I paddle... hard to tell. There is a certain part of me that needs the adventure that kayaking brings and, maybe, that same part needs to feel that primal fear that accompanies such adventure. Then again, maybe I just like being a enigma to people.

Until next time...

j

Weekend ReCap with Jim

Well, another weekend behind us and it was a pretty nice one here in Pdx. Shell and I headed out to watch our nephew (Gavin Nash) swim in the Oregon State High School Swimming Championships. He did GREAT! Gavin took second in the 500 freestyle and his relay team took 2 Second Place medals and a First Place medal, the time for which set a new Oregon High School Record. I didn't swim competitively in high school, so I was a bit lost during most of the meet, but it sure was exciting to see him do so well and Shell and I are both really proud of him.

Saturday, we took one of the better February days to finally clean up our back yard after all the winter storms we had. Having spent a considerable amount of my life at or around a golf course, I'm pretty particular about my grass, so it was good to get it cleaned off, assessed and a game plan devised for my late winter/early spring yard care. Shell and I also got the fire pit going, buring some old branches, etc. that were in the yard... I simply can't get enough of that campfire smell.

Sunday was paddling day and I organized a group trip to the Upper Klickitat (Salmon Hatchery to Leidl Campground) in Washington State. Final count at the put in was 15 paddlers, a great turn out for this trip and a testament to the hardiness of Pacific Northwest kayakers.

I'd never paddled this section before, but it is classified as a Class III run. However, on Sunday flows were on the extreme low end of good, so I didn't really know what to expect... that is, with low flows, some runs become more difficult and some become easier. Overall, the flows we had gave this a Class II/II+ feel, but you could tell by the gradient and the drops that more water would make this a wonderful Class III/III+ run. Couple that with the stunning scenary and you have a section of river well worth the drive. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story...

Looking downstream on a typical section of the Upper Klick

Tim enjoying the float

One of the prettier waterfalls on the Upper Klick

Brit digging in and moving downstream


Nobu says "Hang Loose"


My buddy Aaron taking in the beautiful scenary


Typical columar basalt formations on the Upper Klick

On the drive home, Shell and I stopped by Husum Falls on the White Salmon River to take a look at the log that became lodged in it during the last high water event (See Below). I sort of knew what to expect, but I wasn't prepared to feel as sad as I did once I saw the log. The White Salmon River is a pretty special place for me. The Middle section of this river (The Mid White) was a huge step for me and I spent a good portion of my early kayaking months (which coincided with the courtship of my wife) walking Shell down to the put-in and watching her float away. I would drive down to the take out and look at Husum Falls and think "someday, I'm going to run that drop with Shell". When it finally came time to paddle the "Mid White" and run Husum Falls with Shell it was, to say the least, a super high point in my kayaking. Every time I come up here and get to paddle this section of river, it reminds me of special paddling is to me and how lucky I am to have a partner who I can share these wonderful experiences with. Now, the river is still there and we can run the Mid White section, but it just won't feel the same without being able to finish off with Husum Falls. We'll see what the rafting companies can do about it, but for the immediate future, Husum Falls is out of the question... I'll miss you old friend!

So, that's all I've got for now... I'll be out there exploring the beautiful PacNW again this weekend, hope you all can do the same!

Until next time...

jim