Sunday, February 12, 2012

White Water


I have been white water rafting for 22 years now. I go every summer with my family and a group of close family friends. The whole group anxiously waits all year for the one week full of rugged camping, adventure on the water, and spending time with each other.

I still remember the first year that we went. My parents’ friends said they were going and it would be fun. They invited us to come along. My family had never camped a day in our lives, let alone floated down a raging river in a little raft, but we went. I don’t remember a whole lot about that first year, but a few things stick out in my mind.  

 It was hot! Every morning we globbed on the sunscreen, and then again at lunch. We were in Maupin, Oregon which is very dry and offers little shade. At our campsite the only shade was a small patch provided by a rather small tree. It was a hot piece of real estate.

After we got ready the Dad’s pumped up boats, patched any wholes they found, and loaded them on the trailer. We all found a life jacket that fit and piled into a 15 passenger van with the seats removed. I remember thinking it was so cool because we didn’t have to wear our seatbelts. Then I realized it wasn’t so cool because there were about thirty people in the van. Being a kid we had to sit in the laps of the adults who were sweaty and sticky because it was close to a hundred degrees and the only ventilation was a slight breeze from the cracked window. It felt an extra ten degrees hotter inside. When the van came to a stop I was so relieved. I rushed out to take a breath of fresh air.

We all trickled down to the water and the Dad’s took the boats off and hauled them into the river. The leader of our group gave a safety talk, and told us this was the kids run. I was so excited. I remember I wanted to be in the front with all the action, so me and my dad hoped in and found a seat. All the other boats filled up and one by one we took off down the river.

At First I was having fun. I had been in boats before on lakes, and this seemed no different.  I saw the first wave and shouted, “White water!” with excitement. Then we hit the white water. I could see the nose of the boat go up, and it seemed like it took forever for it to come back down. I wasn’t having as much fun now. I was terrified. I started to cry. My dad grabbed me tight and put my hand on his heart and started singing me a song that he sang to me at bed time. “Bump, bump, bumpity bump. Listen to my heart.” It took a couple times through the song, but eventually I started singing along. Before I knew it I wasn’t scared anymore. I was having fun again!

By the end of that first kids run, I couldn’t wait until after lunch to get back on the river. When we got back home I was already talking about wanting to go the next year. It didn’t take me too long before I was going on the “adult run.” Now I get to be the brave one who sits with the little kids who are scared. I sing them the same song my dad sang to me 22 years ago in hopes they will be able to do the same when they get older. 

3 comments:

  1. Amy,
    I love the this story. I could see the images through my head. I could only imagine what is like for you as the adult having the hot sweaty kids!
    My question for you is do you plan on using your summer vacations for your published book?

    I wonder if you could add what place your family usually goes? Do you think you will write more about this topic? I really like reading your summer vacations!

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  2. I grew up in the Midwest and now, living at the beach, I crave that heat you described so perfectly...I could almost feel it! I love that your writing has been about your family and memories from your childhood, I get the impression that you had a lovely childhood and it is very...I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for...soothing? Comforting? Encouraging? Because I am kind of a grammar girl, I was wondering if this was a draft, as I did see a few technical/conventions errors. But, then again, my friends refer to me as the Grammar Nazi (now I'm scared to go look at any of my writing that I've posted because you'll all be on the lookout for errors! :))

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  3. I could tell that you had a close wonderful relationship with your dad. He seemed to have the perfect way to help you through the scary parts of the trip. I could almost see the white water you described. Did you ever talk to your dad about that trip? Does he remember it the same way you did? I would love to read about the same day from your dad's perspective. It would be fun to read from the adults side of things.

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