{"id":23609,"date":"2020-09-13T01:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=23609"},"modified":"2020-09-14T12:56:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T19:56:17","slug":"paddling-with-bae-my-gateway-to-the-outdoors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2020\/09\/13\/paddling-with-bae-my-gateway-to-the-outdoors\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddling with Bae: My Gateway to the Outdoors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, I loaded up a kayak into the trunk of my car and headed to the beach at the marina. There I stood in the sand, this Black woman, on a beach in Southern California transforming this peculiar box into a kayak. I had no idea that I was about to embark on a journey that would change my entire relationship\u2014with myself, with the outdoors. Never before had I felt comfortable enough to venture out alone. It wasn\u2019t natural and it certainly didn\u2019t come easy for me, but somehow kayaking changed everything.<\/p>\n

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I learned how to swim when I was about five. So, basically, for as long as I can remember I\u2019ve had a relationship with the water. Growing up in New Jersey, summers were hot and humid, but if you were lucky enough to have a friend with a pool, summers were also everything. I was one of those lucky kids\u2014I spent my summers splashing around the pool with my best friend.<\/p>\n

We were in a backyard pool, but in our minds, we were mermaids and dolphins, exploring the ocean. I always felt there was something magical about the water, even in a pool. How else do you explain the way fear could grip your tiny body as your friend sang out, \u201cDuuuun dun\u2026 duuun dun\u2026 and swam toward you from the deep end. And there you stood in the shallow end, terrified of Jaws. For me, water has always had that power. A power and ability to awaken pure imagination and steep the mind in curiosity.<\/p>\n

As a kid, I turned that backyard pool into a daily adventure. And now, as an adult, the water still affects me the same way. Whether I\u2019m staring at a calm lake, roaring rapids, or a sprawling ocean, I feel that same sense of childlike wonder and think to myself, what would it be like to be in the middle of that? What adventures can I have? I want to get out there and explore. On the practical side of the daydream, though, I had grown up in<\/em> the water, I had no experience being on<\/em> the water.<\/p>\n