one year later - bella szpala

i love paddling. every chance I get to paddle i take. the thing is I don't get a lot of chances. i live in the middle of a city and there isn't a lot of water i can paddle super nearby. neither of my parents kayak so i don't have anyone to take me, and i don't trust my twelve year old sister to save me if i swim or get hurt, and I'm not sure i trust myself to save her. i'm also a really busy person. i go to school, i do extra curricula's aside from kayaking, so a lot of the time i just don't have the time. the odds are really against me.

for the past six or so years i have taken a week out of my summer, for the last two summers i have taken three weeks, to come to wilderness tours and paddle with ottawa kayak school. often these are the only times i get to paddle. since my last year at keeners i have paddled exactly zero rapids, and the only times i would even sit in my kayak would either be in a pool or a lake practicing my roll, or in my garage just sitting there being sad that i can't go on the water. 

the thing about kayaking though is that it's hard to forget how to do. it's kind of like riding a bike. sure some things have changed since last year, but i haven't gotten drastically worse. i'm extremely thankful for all the chances i get to paddle with oks and on my own, and i'm trying to make it a goal of mine to get in my boat more, and maybe even come up to the ottawa river, even if it's just for a day. i wish i could paddle more often, but i know that i can always come back to keeners as i left, ready to get better for next year.