Today I floated down the Provo River with friends Lisa and Elisa. We picked the activity a week ago, and were thrilled that not only was it a cloudless, warm day, but when we arrived at the inner tube rental place at 12:20pm there was no crowd! Lisa had her own life jacket and tube, and I took a life jacket, so Elisa rented a jacket and both of us paid for tubes and we were good to go! The friendly folks at the rental spot drove us and the tubes up to the starting point. We walked to the freezing water, sat down, and shoved off.
It was so pleasant just floating along, enjoying the breeze, warm air, and sound of running water. I started to feel very relaxed and smiley. It was so soothing...
...Until I started drifting into the weeds on the bank. I used my flip-flops to paddle myself away the best I could... but it didn't last long. My tube was nice and full which kept my fanny out of the water, but my arms were neither long enough or strong enough to effectively navigate! Curse my wimpy arms! Any time I tried to relax my tube slowly spun until I floated backward and I headed right back toward the weeds! To make matters worse, that slowed me down a lot, so my friends ended up leaving me behind (not for lack of trying. Lisa said she tried to wait, but when she grabbed a hanging branch she capsized. I didn't blame her for going on without me at that point).
After an hour, I felt like I wasn't making any progress sitting in the tube, so I decided to shift my position. I put my feet and legs in the hole so I could hang my arms over the front. I figured I could get more leverage that way. It was a good idea in theory, but the truth is my arms are just too wimpy. I fell out of the tube twice. I gave up a couple of times and just let myself drift into the weeks or rocks or riverweed or whatever came my way. I now have a very impressive bruise on my right knee for my trouble. I got out at one point so I could kind of shove off again, but it didn't help much.
That last hour was miserable. I was frustrated with having to paddle nearly every second, especially since at least 50 people floated lazily down the center of the river past me. I was doing all I could but it wasn't enough! For some reason I just had really lousy luck! I really wasn't having fun. I started the trip with "Life on the River" (a song from Toad! The Wind in the Willows) in my head. Halfway through, "Master the Tempest is Raging" became the theme. I ended with "Sloop John B." I just wanted to go home!! I am not ashamed to admit I cried. A lot. (But I guess that's nothing new. I cry when I'm happy, sad, stressed; pretty much all the time.)There were so many times I wanted to just give up and get out of the water and carry the stupid tube to the parking lot. I almost kissed the 12 year-old boy who told me I only had about 15 minutes to go.
Poor Lisa and Elisa felt so badly when I finally caught up to them! Lisa (who is actually in shape and probably in a better tub) was an angel and towed me the last hundred yards. What with the cold water and the way I'd been crouching for that last hour, my legs were not prepared to work correctly for awhile, and I knew my abs and arms were going to hurt tomorrow. But once we were in the car and started to warm up I was able to feel more cheerful again. I got through it! And I was glad to get to spend time with Lisa and Elisa; I don't get to see either of them nearly enough, and they are such fantastic and positive women. We ate lunch together at Subway and just chatted. How I love them both!
Now, I really, really hate it when people take ordinary events and turn it into some life lesson. (Seriously, why can't some people just enjoy each experience without making it a huge spiritual discussion?) However, during the "Master the Tempest is Raging" period, I thought about how much stronger nature is than I am. I couldn't even pull my puny body and lousy tube through a stupid river current. Yet the Savior was able to calm the sea with just a word! No wonder the Bible said man is lower than the dust of the earth. I had no power in that water. At all. At that point, I knew how totally out of control I was. My best was not good enough and it never will be. I need the Savior to help me to get where I want to be. It is nice to I'll have His help and company as I slog through my various trials and issues. I really don't want to have to do it alone. Life may be short, but so many moments feel so very, very long.
Shoot. It became a lesson after all. Sorry.
At any rate, it was a beautiful day. Now I can say I floated the Provo River, and I don't need to do it again any time soon.
Although, if I do try again, I may take an actual raft with real paddles. That actually looked fun, and with my friends in the raft with me we'd have a more difficult time getting separated!
1 comment:
I had so many similar experiences when I was younger. My neice and I used to float down Hobble Creek until we reached the dam. There were a few scary times when the creek was high and the current got pretty fast close to the dam. And there's nothing wrong with life lessons. Sometimes, that's the point. :)
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