With Charles remaining heavily sedated following the “incident” with the bear, I was nominated to submit the paddling report for the trip to Eminence, MO on the Current River. Rather than provide the ordinary and expected drivel, I thought everyone might enjoy hearing about the character of the members of the BCCC who participated in this both exciting and revealing trip.
Before showcasing the positives, I want to be quick to defend the major loss we experienced of both oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies when Teresa “forgot” them on Saturday. Since Paul appeared both truly saddened and shocked, we decided to forge on with the determination only a BCCC member could muster and enjoy our day despite the heavy loss. Paul and Teresa are still giggling, making out and holding hands like a couple of newlyweds so no damage there.
The weather cooperated beautifully, providing a gorgeous backdrop for the personal bonds of friendship and the ability to overcome. Rick Watkins stated that “although its true I clung with all my might under a large tree wad for nearly 10 minutes unnoticed I really did admire the heroic efforts of several in the group, including my dear travelling companion Alan Ainley, to rescue a stranger’s fishing rod. The strong current did not carry me away and I was able to witness the half hour long repeated attempts by he, Popeye and Dory Liggett to locate and recover it. I’m fine, I really am. What really matters is that we leave a good impression.”
We were all equally amazed by the resilience of the marriage of Allen & Heather Pierce. While it’s true that Allen did leave Heather at the takeout and was seen jumping into the vehicle of several women and their boats, he rushed back to find her. After admitting that he had married “up” and proclaiming “it’s going to take me a lifetime to be worthy” the couple’s relationship seems to be destined for a total and complete recovery.
On a separate note, I really did want to commend the group decision made at the bar afterwards to take up a collection so that we would be allowed to return to Eminence Cottages & Campgrounds. Before being taken away earlier that day, Charles was heard mumbling about “not highly likely but hopeful.” I almost forgot to add he was rambling about “please remember me to way I was.” More importantly, and back to the main thread of thought, let’s all console ourselves with the fact that the damage adjacent to Richard Sojourner’s camper was somewhat minor and only affected a small portion of the grounds (there’s 16 acres overall) and most of the bathhouse was left usable so surely it will all work out. Old wooden picnic tables are not that good of an idea anyway and the use of alcohol was not strictly forbidden.
As also discussed at the bar, we have agreed to not mention names when it comes to both the releasing and the catching of the 20 lb. carp. Lastly, we can remain thankful for the overall positive attitude about going from 18 to 17 paddlers sometime between Friday’s and Saturday’s paddle (?). Please remember and tell your friends that
statistically our paddling club remains one of the top 10 safest clubs in the west Tennessee area. Susan Redmon’s friend & guest Tara said that given that it happened so quietly she felt totally unaffected by it and would join us again.
Thanks again for all the great memories (it’s all about staying positive!) and please remember the importance of signing an ACA waiver EVERY SINGLE TIME if you are not an annual ACA member. This trip reminded us how fiscally wise this arrangement is and Beverly Hollingsworth said she would hate to disrupt the “continuity of financial transparency.”