Peace of Paddle

I feel the pull of the water as my paddle breaks the surface of the water. I begin to get into a rhythm, my stokes getting longer and the kayak gliding as if floating across a piece of glass. The sun begins to peak beyond the horizon instantly giving more warms on the cool summer morning. Everything seemed serene, as the world began to wake up. I stop paddling for a minute, just taking it all in.

I close my eyes, feeling the breeze that somehow is unable to move the water. The world around me is so quiet I can hear the waves hitting the rocks back at the shore. It was so peaceful I thought I was going to fall asleep, until I felt a splash. My eyes jolted open, only to see my sister unable to control her laughter from her kayak her paddle angled directly towards me. I on the other hand was not finding this quite as funny, but after a few moments of annoyance, I couldn't help but laugh too.

Our laughter lasted for what felt like an hour, and only stopped when we realized our voices were echoing off the water - probably not what the neighbors wanted to hear before 7am. With that, we began paddling again, our strokes matching with one another as we parted the water in our way. This had become part of our morning routine, waking up before the sun rose, grabbing our kayaks and paddling out to just enjoy it all.

Each day we picked a different spot on the shoreline to paddle to - of course depending on how long we wanted to paddle and what else we wanted to do that day. This particular day we had chosen to paddle down to the reeds, which would be about an hour long kayak ride. These rides had become my favorite part of the morning, getting to just paddle our with my sister, away from all the chaos on the shoreline as people begin waking up and getting out on the water. It's the one time of day where we have the lake all to ourselves.

After what felt like hours, we finally made it to the reeds. This was one of the only spots on the shoreline we hadn't paddled to before and so of course we had to take a picture to commemorate it. The reeds were a destination we talked about for weeks, just thinking it was a picturesque spot and the perfect opportunity to try a new spot rather than our usual route. We ended up spending nearly 45 minutes just weaving in and out of the reeds, talking and laughing as if the world around us didn't exist.

I really came to appreciate these early morning kayak rides. They were more than just a way to spend my time or a way to get exercise. It was the time that I had with my sister. The time that we had to talk and really spend time together before hitting the chaos of having 13 people under one roof. Although I loved these early morning kayak rides, I never truly appreciated their importance until I came to college. My sister and I have always been really close, so not being able to see and talk to her anytime of any day, it really made me appreciate these early morning rides that much more.

Not every lesson you learn happens in the moment. Sometimes it takes time to truly understand what you've learned or appreciate what you have, but somewhere along the line, you will find your early morning kayak ride.