Always Press On.

This morning we took the canoe out for a little sightseeing. We were gonna go across the bay to see what there was in that stand of trees we've been looking at for the last 20 years.
The water was smooth, we were sunblocked, why not? We get a third of the way across and the wind starts kicking up. We keep paddling but soon realize we were getting nowhere. We turn to the edges and decide to hug the shore. Along the shore the water was smooth, it was so shallow we could touch bottom with our paddles, sort of pushing ourselves along as opposed to paddling... ala gondolas in Venice. We go out a bit deeper but the waves would push us back. Finally we give up and decide to start making our way back to our place. The wind was really fierce, we were really having to paddle for all we were worth and sometimes it seemed as if we were just getting no where. Just standing still. Maybe even going a bit backwards.

It struck me how much of a metaphor for life this was.

We eventually made it back, reluctantly. This evening, the water was smooth as glass. So clear the reflection of the nearby trees and homes were mirror images. It would have been easy to cross the wide gap to the stand of trees we've looked at for 20 years. But we had lost our momentum.... maybe tomorrow, we say. But tomorrow will be colder. And cloudier. And windier. And we'll be another day older. And in a hurry cause we have to get back to our real world.

Wonder what there is in that clump of trees? We no sooner made it back and got the canoe out of the water when an eagle came flying out of that clump... soaring majestically over the water. How disappointing that we gave up and didn't press on.

Next time.