What Kayaking has Taught me About Life + Death: By Ash

Here on the Ottawa river, just about everything is safe. Other than maybe the sharp rocks on the island at Mcoys or the hole at Butchers Knife, not much on the water can truly hurt you. It’s deep, powerful, and safe.

But what even is “safe”. One could say it is not safe to drive a car. Which most of us do nearly every day. One could say that biking to work on a busy road isn’t safe. And even simply sitting in your home, tragedy can strike at any moment. Most people look at my kayaking and see only risks. They go about their day to days and then stumble upon a video of someone doing something extreme. Death diving, mountain biking, climbing. These things feel so far removed from their day to days, so risk must be high. Yet, I look to the world, and I see risk. Everywhere. We are constantly taking risks. It is an inherently human thing that we haven’t yet discovered how to avoid. In this way, kayaking is much safer than the day to day of life. There are only so many variables on the water. There are often answers or ways to get answers when paddling. This is not at all like our lives. We are a confused bumbling people on a planet hurtling through space. And yet, kayaking is also very dangerous. It is a sport that if you do long enough, you will know people who die. It is a sport that requires a certain level of dissociating from trauma. It is a sport that requires us to rewire our brains into active problem solving and not always processing. Oftentimes, there isn’t time to process. I do not know the antidotes to these traits. People will continue to die paddling. We can do everything right and the river can still be unpredictable, unkind, and cruel. Perhaps that is part of it all. That instead of staring down the tunnel that is the unknown and saying you’d rather not go down there, we get in our kayaks and paddle it. Kayaking is equal parts surrendering and collaborating. In this way, it is nothing but a dance. With water. With life– and death.

How To Make The Best Grilled Cheese: By Sawyer

The first step in making the best grilled cheese is to find a friend to cook it with. My preferred grilled cheese buddy is Phil.

The second step is to take out butter, bread, shredded cheese, sliced cheese, and bacon.

The third step is to cook the bacon in a large pan, big enough to fit the sandwich in, at a medium high heat until crispy and cooked. Make sure to leave the grease in the pan after cooking the bacon.

The fourth step is to prepare the grilled cheese. You do that by buttering each side of the bread, putting two layers of sliced cheese on each side, and then the desired amount of bacon in the center (I personally go with 4). 

The fifth step is to put the pan on a medium low heat and put the grilled cheese in the pan. You want to grill it in the bacon grease until the cheese melts and the bread is nice and crispy. You want to make sure to flip the sandwich occasionally for the most even grilling.

The sixth step is to take the sandwich out of the pan with a spatula and put shredded cheese into the pan in the shape of the sandwich. You then want to put the sandwich down on the cheese and let it grill onto the bottom. This step takes longer to complete than you would think but you have to be patient if you truly want the best grilled cheese. Once one of the sides is finished you want to repeat this step on the other side of the sandwich.

The seventh step is to take the grilled cheese out of the pan and cut it evenly down the center. Then you and your buddy (for example Phil) get to dig into the best grilled cheese and enjoy every cheesy, crispy bite until gone.

A tip that that is optional but I personally recommend is it to find a nice chair to put in front of the stove so you can sit and get a good viewing angle. While this step is optional, in my opinion it makes for a better overall grilled cheese experience.

Lunch At The Camp: By Megan Box

The lunch spot on the river is a place to take a short break from paddling and eat grilled food to get the energy back to your body. But, it's also great to show that you can be helpful to the wilderness tours employees. Helping at the grill is fantastic on a cold day because while everyone else suffers in the cold you can be by the nice warm grill. While on the grill you may get lunch last, but that also means that you can control when other people get food. Which is a lot of power. Then, on the days when there is only sandwiches and no one goes to the lunch spot you could have a nice break and hope that you could go back. Another perk is that you can listen to a wide variety of music. Whether it's early 2000s white girl music or modern rock there's never a dull moment with music. This is only a small reason to volunteer at the lunch spot.

My Keeners Rap Career: By Blake Booth

Ever since the start of keeners this year Luke has been encouraging me to be a rapper. I don’t know why, but it has become this joke. It’s a lot of fun and yesterday I made it a reality. Yesterday was speech night so obviously, I rap the speech. It was a lot of fun and it was really funny. Though I am not actually a rapper. Luke really encouraged me to try something new. That is very similar to all aspects of keeners. Even if you’re not good at something, they still encourage you to try something new. That’s probably my favorite particulars, always learning something new. 

Community Living: By Aidan

Living in a group for the first time can be difficult. There will be struggles and issues in the group, things like cooking, dishes and cleaning. For example no one wants to clean the sink because it’s a communal item so we often get held up when it’s time to go on the water. I think there should be some way to ensure these jobs are done. One way could be to have a schedule for tasks so each person would have a chance to do the same jobs. Another could be cleaning as we go clean what you used and also do some small job. I think having a communal living space is hard for people our age and younger and that is why things don’t get done. In conclusion I think that we need to have more responsibility for ourselves and our stuff to make sure the community living space stays clean.

How To Be A Cleaner Keener: By Patrick Minnehan

As a Keener it’s easy to let your personal hygiene get away from you. Here are a couple tips to keep you in tip top shape. After the river everyday be sure to put in ear drops and change into a fresh pair of socks and shoes. Next be sure to shower everyday. My favorite time to shower is after dinner before going to bed. However showering before leaving for dinner works also and many people prefer this. Also, have a day set aside once a week to do laundry. You will smell and feel better. Lastly, keep your area clean in your cabin. It’s a great feeling after a day of paddling to collapse in a clean, made bed.

How To Make Good Breakfast Food: By Leah Gard

How to make good breakfast food. For one you need to know what you want for the day and I am going to tell you how to make the best bagel sandwich. To start you want to set the toaster to 3 on the thing and then put your bagel in. Now you want to put the stove on a medium heat with butter. Then put 2 eggs in a bowl and mix well, put a little splash of milk in to make them fluffy as well. After that put the eggs in the pan and pull the edges of the egg to the center till all of it starts to clomp in the middle then flip it and add cheese to it. When the cheese is melted then turn the stove off and get a plate and grab your bagel, put hot sauce on the inside of one part of the bagel it don’t matter what side. Now put the egg on and add bacon or some kind of meat of your choice. Put cheese on the top and put the other half on and put it in the microwave for a minute and you’re ready to eat.