The Meaning of Life - Charlie Dockendorf

The meaning of life is a question that has been long debated throughout time. Luckily, I have found the answer. In order to explain it, I’m going to need some help from French Philosopher, Albert Camus. In Camus’ book “The Myth of Sisyphus” Camus introduces a groundbreaking idea in the last paragraph. "I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Sisyphus is a Greek figure who tried to cheat the gods out of death and was punished with rolling a Boulder up a hill for all of eternity and every time he gets to the top it rolls back down and he has to start again. 

Camus answers the meaning of life question by explaining that even though Sisyphus and an unbearable and mundane task, one must imagine him content with his curse. Camus uses Sisyphus rolling his Boulder up the hill as a metaphor for human life. Even though the task of life can be mundane and repetitive, if we can create our own meaning and purpose in life then we win. If we can be content with whatever happens in life and try to do whatever makes us happy then we are doing something right. Sisyphus being content with his task shows how the worst of situations can be positive and we give our own meaning to our own experiences.

By Cam Lenhart

Respect for the wild is hidden in every lesson OKS Keeners teaches, the acceptance of the river however it may be, no matter the water level or any other factor. Keeners does not teach a "Minibus or nothing" mindset, rather a "there is always something" mindset. From Kahuna to Phil's to Waikiki, the variation in the Ottawa river teaches a flexibility in those who visit the river. There is never a reliance on any specific feature, and the variation in surfable waves creates mental flexibility as well as physical flexibility. All Keeners emerge from the program with the ability to look at a river and never turn away disappointed, to find something in nothing, and possessing the physical skill to create from little. 

Respecting the river in its natural state is respecting just one aspect of the wild. As with the other aspects of the wild, the only way to gain true awareness is to fully immerse oneself in the environment. I still feel the power and beauty of the Ottawa beating through me day and night, on and off the water. Only this can gift me the true understanding of the water. 

Nature is wild. The wild is unpredictable, it fluctuates, it evolves, but it is not indestructible. When we live in a world that favors green paper over green trees, the wilderness is at risk. We live in a society that the vast majority of will never feel the power that I've felt, that will never understand what I understand, and will never respect what I respect. I truly wish that my home country of the United States could be influenced by those who have been immersed, not by those who chase money and power. Many recent decisions have been made that affect parties not represented at all within the decision-makers. Our wilderness is at risk and so are the rights of many. 

I appreciate the isolation that I have had at Keeners because it has allowed me to focus on the beautiful things and ignore the not-so-beautiful things. When I return to normal life, everything will come to the surface again and I will see that not everything is as wonderful as it seems out here on the river. I will continue to be a kid for as long as I can, and I will forever live in search of the wonder I've experienced here.

Lyle's Moon Plan - Lyle Hering

One day when I am rich, I will hollow out the moon and live in it. I will travel there with a rocket. My rocket will be fast and it will only take a minute to get there. I will have a ski mountain inside the moon. I will also have a river on the surface of the moon in a glass tube so I can gaze at the stars while I paddle. I will also host huge parties with all of the worlds important politicians and celebrities. 

It will take a lot of work to hollow out the moon. Luckily I will one day be rich and able to pay for others to do it for me. Everyone knows the moon is made out of cheese. I will sell the cheese and become twice as rich. Moon cheese is delicious and expensive.

If I decide the people of Earth arn't worthy of my moon, I will have a giant motor built in it, and I will fly away to different galaxies to party with raddest aliens in the universe. I will hire Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars to play at my parties (David Bowie is alive and in space).

Food war of 2022 - Blake Booth

It all started on the Twentieth of June at 6 am, Magnus and Finn snuck into Robinson's while everyone was asleep. They knew that we had just gotten a refill of food, so they decided to steal our popcorn. We found out that they stole it later that day because when we went to grab popcorn for a movie, we did not see it there so we went over to the White House to steal the food back. but they had already popped it so we just stole the popcorn from the microwave. They did not notice that we had taken there popcorn until the next day we ate all of the popcorn before they could steal it back. The next morning, I had made almost twenty pancakes so that we could freeze them. But when we were getting ready for dinner they came and took them. At that point we started to hide the food. When we hid it they never could find the good food. That is how we resolved the food war of 2022.

Middle vs Main - Lev Weisswasser

Hi, my name is Lev and I’m going to compare the Middle and Main in this blog. 

The Middle is widely known to be the easier channel and has less water. The Main has almost three times more water than the Middle and is known to be harder although the both start and end in the same place. Even though the Main is considered harder I would actually rank them as equal or the Main might be a little easier. I think this because Little Trickle is very technical and shallow while the Lorn is deep, wide and only needs one move. 

Moving down we have Butterfly and Angle's Kiss on the Middle and Butcher's Knife and Box Canyon on the Main. I would say Butterfly is harder than Butchers Knife but less consequential. While Angle's Kiss is easier and less consequential than Box Canyon. Now we have Garvin's vs Norman’s. This is an easy win for the Middle Garvins is more consequential and harder. Next we have Upper No Name vs Coliseum. Coliseum takes the win here it is massive intimidating and consequential. While Upper No nName is relatively easy. Next up we have Lower No Name vs Blacks. Lower No Name is way bigger than Blacks so it easily wins. After this the channels join back together. So overall they tie 3-3.

McNasty - Magnus Monson

I really enjoy doing freestyle kayaking in a hole. One of my favorite hole boating moves is the McNasty, because it looks steezy and scores high in competitions. The McNasty is initiated from a back surf, then you spin around and do a loop. To perform McNasty, start in a side surf and back sweep so that you are now in a back blast. Once you are in a back blast you need to drop edge and forward sweep to swing your stern above the green water and plug you bow. After all you will need to do to perform a McNasty is to do a loop. The McNasty is a great move and if you can do a spin and a loop then you can learn a McNasty. The McNasty is a hard trick, and is often very frustrating to fail and do a McBeater. Even though it is hard the McNasty is very fun. To conclude, the McNasty is a very fun trick and satisfying to land.

Pushing our limits at Keeners - Alex Mueller

At Keeners all the instructors do a great job at pushing your limits but also staying safe, they will let you know if it is something you can do and if it is something you should do. On Thursdays they make you do something that you normally wouldn't do on any day like surfing mini-bus or running a bigger rapid. They also help you push your freestyle skills and learn new tricks. They give everybody advice on what they should practice and what they should try to learn.

I am so glad I came to keeners because I am already doing things I would've never thought of doing before I came here.