Another teaching "gig" in May...

well it looks as though I will probably be teaching at HVO's Hudson Valley Kayak Symposium...

Once again went through this whole damned round of self-doubt...this is a bit more formal than any of the stuff I've done since leaving Manhattan Kayak. Plus they want me to help out with a "Women on Water" class, which is a curious thing for me because although I am definitely a women (wait, let me look...yep) and I am frequently found on the water I have never spent a lot of time thinking about the woman aspect of the whole thing. Guess it's time to start thinking though. I did explain to the organizer that I've always taught paddling without really differentiating between the genders & that I honestly wasn't sure where to start in on a gender-specific approach - actually one of the things I really like about paddling is that it really is a sport where gender DOESN'T make that much difference - or shouldn't. Technique is so much more important than sheer brute upper-body strength.

But the organizer said that so far, it's mostly beginners who're signed up - so in a way I'm thinking that that, in and of itself, would be a pretty worthwhile message to get across.

And I've got until May 20th to do some research. Seems kind of funny that I should have to do research about being a woman paddler but oh well. There was some book some well-intentioned person gave me called Kayaking for Women" - I dropped it open to a random page & read an introductory sentence about the sprayskirt that read something along the lines of "Imagine you're wearing a poodle skirt". Gag me with a bilge pump, dude. Promptly chucked it & went back to Paul Dutky's The Bombproof Roll And Beyond. Perhaps I should take another look.

Bedtime now...hoping to get in a paddle tomorrow, although it may be a bit on the rainy/windy side, those of us who are going will be touching base at 9 am so we can make the call then. Today was a gale warning w/pouring rain, perfect for doing taxes & then curling up with the kitties & one of my favorite movies, Spirited Away - that was all nice (well the second part, the first was productive & nice to have finished so yeah, I guess it was all nice) butI'm really hoping that the storm has blown itself out tomorrow because I will be working the following weekend so this is my last chance to paddle before the whole budget season takes over my life completely...