Yesterday we had the great opportunity to get out on the water and make our way down the Delaware. I can certainly say that as we got out of the vans, into our kayaks, and finally back to campus, my mindset evolved over the course of the day. Questions like “how hard am I going to have to paddle?”, “why am I up so early?”, and “Do I really have to get my shoes dirty?” were dominating my psyche early; although I was excited for the trip, I had to prepare myself for the true hands-on nature of the activities. But these questions did not linger long in my head, as being on the water often takes my mind to much simpler, elemental places. I began asking myself questions such as “What’s causing that disturbance in the water?”, and “Are the cormorants looking to feed?”.

Your attention is always required when you’re in the water, and it was nice to be able to solely focus on the task at hand yesterday: getting my kayak down the river with, hopefully, me still in it. Questions regarding school work and social life turned into questions regarding paddle strokes, angles into rapids, and wildlife moving around us. I think it would be easy to say that the river distracted me from other obligations for the time, but I feel that classification is a disservice to the river. Rather, I would say that the river reestablished what was important to me at that moment, the elemental nature of life, and oriented my thoughts away from superficial distractions that can easily be mistaken for the building blocks of life. What a nice way to spend a Saturday.