One paddle stroke propels a canoe about three feet forward, and it takes about 1800 strokes to travel a mile, so in the 500 or so miles of travel by canoe I’ve done, in maybe 6 or 7 total weeks, on seven different waterways, I’ve pushed my paddle in and out of the water nine hundred thousand times. There have been exquisite, breathtaking landscapes, but at the same time, as much as one can purport to love nature, they will get bored of mile upon mile of tree lined river. The novelty of isolated and unspoiled wilderness wears off quickly. When the views in front are the same ones as the last mile, and the one before that, I’ve sometimes turned to looking down. Theres not too many visual stimuli on the canoe floor: maybe a water bottle rolling around or …show more content…
Now this normally would be even more monotonous and boring than the other selections available to stare at, but in conjunction with the canoe we introduce a new factor to the environment: the paddle. The paddle somehow finds itself suspended in air. This moment may have been preceded by an earlier paddle stroke, or maybe the paddle found itself in this suspended position after having been reanimated following a break. But, no matter how it reached this point, the paddle does find itself at it’s apogee, hovering inches above the water. It’s moving forward, contrary to the flow of the water directly below it. This really is the unexciting phase of the paddle’s task, but it is necessary in order to complete the following subsequent phase. Game time: the paddle is at it’s farthest point forward. It takes a sudden path down. It pierces the water, sending a small splash outwards. That is pretty insignificant in comparison to the movements to come. Before the blade is even fully submerged, it starts a path backwards. The water responds violently to this. In front of the blade, waves form, travelling around the side of the quick moving blade. Behind the blade, a void forms where