No matter where you go or for how long of a paddle, if you're on one of my tours, we
will be making at least a little bit of a bond. It's nearly impossible, when I'm out in the marsh, guiding my group through the winding creeks toward the middle of nowhere, for me not to feel a connection between us.
I recently had a particularly gratifying early morning Half Day Paddle with a mother and her 19 year old son out of the
Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge. The Half Day and Full Day tours give me an opportunity to really get to know my guests...and teach them everything I can think of. (Don't get me wrong. The Two Hour is fantastic for that, as well!) We went out just before high tide, and Michele and I got a kick out of watching Dylan explore every little side creek we passed. He got pretty far up into a couple and even found us a short cut back from the spot on the western side of the marsh where we were watching the bald eagles in the trees. All the while, of course, surrounded by periwinkle snails clinging to the tops of the cordgrass blades.
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| No need to wonder whether these two had a good time! |
We had a nice long stop on Raccoon Island, and the look on their faces when I pulled
cold bottles of water of out my kayak hatch was classic! After our refresher and some hermit crab observation, we went back to the boats for the open water portion of our adventure. And that's when I really got to experience the dynamic between mother and son! They were joking back and forth and quizzing each other on things we had seen already (including their first ever glossy ibis sighting), and I thought, "
Kayakers really are my people." At the end of our four hour expedition, we were all ready for lunch and feeling about as happy as we could be about our time together in the wild. We had hugs by the water and assured each other that we
would see each other again.
I'm sure I'm off to guide another family soon, but this one, and each one, nestles into a special place in my heart.
-Margaret 7/10/14
