And Be yond
"If your paddle isn't in the water, you're slowing down."
I have been told this from numerous sources--friends, my brother, a coach, and plenty of articles that encourage stand up paddle boarding as a sport and not simply a nice little bit of fresh air out on the lake. The point is that the board really has no inertia to keep going on its own. If you don't have pressure with your paddle on the water, you are losing speed. So, cadence is the key. Quick. Chop chop chop...
As usual with this sort of observation, I tend to expand it into the greater realm of our time on the planet. Stop efforting for even half a second and you are slowing down. Chop chop chop... or start falling behind. I have done a share of paddle races and this is the truth. The athletes who paddle snick snick snick are the ones out in front.
Competition speed climbing is coming to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The goal is to scale a 5 degree overhanging wall, 15 meters tall with standardized holds and smack a mechanical switch at the top to beat your opponent, who is climbing the exact same route at the exact same time just 12 feet to one side. The men's speed record is held by Reza Alipour Shenazandifar from Iran in 5.63 seconds. That's the equivalent of scaling a nearly 5 story building in less than 6 seconds. You are either going up very, very quickly continuously or gravity is trying to pull you to the center of the earth. We all climbed trees. 50 feet up a tree in 5 seconds?!? I'm not sure I could fall out of a tree that fast...
Wallace's Giant Bees (megachile pluto) are the largest bees in the world. They were thought to be extinct after their initial discovery in 1858 until specimens were observed in 1981. 37 years of searching and, until earlier this year, no video footage existed of the 1 ½-inch long insects. They are resin bees, black with a white band around their middle and have a wingspan up to 2 ½ inches. These monsters are on the "25 Most Wanted" list from the Global Wildlife Conservation "Search for Lost Species" initiative.
The common thread here is the "paddle in the water." Don't. Slow. Down. Don't wait. Scaling a 50- foot wall? Practice and focus and a young athlete is doing something unthinkable. Don't even mention the Alex Honnold miracle documented in "Free Solo." Want to find a lost species? Spend 37 years in Indonesian lowland forests to find a giant bee living in termite mounds.
But, and there is always a but. Socrates said, "Beware the barrenness of a busy life." When I walk in the woods, I take it slow. I’m shooting pictures. Listening for a spider walking. Paddling? Some are sweat fests. Some are more about the liquid violet and gold light on the moving mirror or the way rays project out of your head's shadow on the water’s surface when the sun is high. 45 years of throwing a frisbee around with my brothers and sons isn't accomplishing anything. But, I'll do it every chance I get. Feel like throwing a little 'bee? Always...
Get busy, my friends. And then don't. Making art is this tightrope everyday: Get it done. Now what is it for? Intense effort followed by relaxed analysis. Paddle hard and then stroll... Be fast. Bee patient. 'bee always.
Vertical flow. Horizontal flow. Same same.
Mostly, be passionate. And, YO Summer!!
love love.
