New Things

New Things that I have discovered this week:

1) Kayaking

I used to love going canoeing down various rivers when I was in high school and college, but haven't been on a river in 10 years. When a friend offered to let me go kayaking last evening, I took her up on it. I was a little apprehensive at first, mostly because I didn't know the river, I had never been in a kayak before, and my diabolical mind started replaying every film clip off of the National Geographic channel that involved kayakers being violently ejected from their boats in the middle of boiling rapids. That, and I'd always heard that it was extremely easy to tip those suckers over even in calm waters.

My fears were unfounded, I made the whole two-hour trip without falling in, even when climbing in or out of the kayak. The water was very low in the river, so the current wasn't bad. But, those pesky rocks had to be avoided or I was going in the drink, and I scraped the bottom a couple of times (and got stuck once or twice too). I had such a great time! I had forgotten just how much I love being on the water in a small craft ~ I do enjoy being on larger boats, but I especially love being in a canoe. And now, a kayak. The biting bugs were minimal, we saw 3 or 4 blue herons, a bald eagle, and too many ducks and geese to count. Oh, and a baby turtle sunning itself on a partially-submerged log.

I have found a new love. Now I just have to work a deal with Z to watch the kids for me so I can go again. I figure if he gets to go out and spend a whole day fishing, then my spending two or three hours kayaking shouldn't be too much of a big deal.



2) Crocs

I have never succumbed to the allure of the candy-colored plastic shoes sported by nearly every demographic in American culture. Mostly because they started out being outrageously over-priced for a molded plastic shoe, and I had other things to spend my money on. Like diapers, to keep my kids' butts upholstered. And food, so they could make their deposits in the aforementioned diapers. Even when we had the extra money, Crocs generally weren't on my radar. I have running shoes for running, and a pair of trashed ones for working in the garden. I didn't do anything water-related. Until yesterday. I had ransacked my closet looking for some shoes that would stay on my feet and were waterproof, but could come off if I needed them to if I fell out of the kayak, and possibly float. I found a pair of foam flip-flops that came the closest to filling those requirements, since I don't own any actual water shoes.

When I showed up to Mel's house, where the kayaks were, lo and behold she had gotten me a pair of Crocs for my birthday! She knew I didn't have any water shoes, and surprised me with these bright baby blue ones. I don't know what my previous hang-ups about the shoes were. Are they kind of ugly? Yes. But they are also kind of cheery with their nice, vibrant color, and they are insanely comfortable, which really surprised me. Do they make my feet look zaftig? Yes, they make each foot look like a huge baby blue marshmallow. That just means if I was unfortunate enough to be unintentionally separated from my kayak, the search and rescue team would be able to find my feet bobbing down the river, and know the rest of me was in the near vicinity.

Other benefits: I can chuck these suckers in the dishwasher to clean them. They also: a) stayed on my feet the duration of the kayak trek thanks to a handy strap that goes behind my heel; and b) had some surprisingly good traction, which came in handy when I had to scramble up an embankment at the terminal end of our journey. Especially because the two guys that were fishing didn't offer us any help, but stood there staring at us as we climbed out of our boats and hauled them up to the flat part, which was a good 6 or 7 feet up.



3) Anne Taintor

Anne Taintor is a collage artist with a wicked, subversive wit. Doesn't everyone need a little cynical humor in their life? I read through her book "I'm becoming my mother" and couldn't do anything but laugh at the irony of it all. Anne takes vintage advertisements and illustrations and removes any original copy (text) from the image, leaving her free to create her own commentary about what's really going on. Love her. Here's a couple of favorites:





4) Brushing

This is not for your hair or your teeth. This is a new (to us) technique for helping A to calm down and focus. We take what looks like the baby hairbrush you get from the hospital and firmly rub it up and down A's arms and legs, avoiding certain areas, and also on his back. It doesn't take long, maybe 10 strokes on each part. Then we do a few joint compressions on shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees, and ankles, to give him the tactile input he needs, and (ta da!) he's remarkably calm for the next hour or so. To be the most effective, his OT said it needed to be done every 90 minutes or so that A is awake, every single day. I just kind of stared at her, and she laughed and said that unfortunately that isn't really possible with most people, so if we just do it when he wakes up, mid-morning sometime, at lunchtime, mid-afternoon, and then again at bedtime we should be good. A loves it! He'll take the brush and try to do it to himself sometimes. Since we just started with this technique, I have no idea how it will work out in the long run. For now, it seems to be doing something, though, so we're going to keep it up.