Almost every day, Deb and I go either rowing or kayaking. We both need the exercise and it’s an activity we can enjoy together. If I feel like living on the edge, I prefer kayaking. Sure, I could play it safe and sit on the nice rubber hatch cover of our yellow sea kayak, but I like to inch forward and balance on the very front of the boat right near the tip.
Yes it’s truly narrow and tippy there but as a self-proclaimed ambassador for all terriers, it feels important that I challenge myself and display grit and determination and also a little stubbornness. So I continue to inch forward.
When a big wave comes, it’s all over for me. I am launched forward and occasionally sideways, with pretty awesome velocity. A Parson Russell cannonball! I always attempt a graceful water entry so as to get full points from the judges. Passersby are often alarmed by the festivities and they call out to see if we need assistance, but Deb and I know this game and it ends with me swimming grandly up to the side of the kayak and her leaning over and pulling me back on. Her reward for this generosity? A cooling jet of water as I shake myself dry. I don’t know why I do that but it always gets a reaction!
Sometimes I wear my life jacket, which has a handle so it’s easier for Deb to haul me back onto the kayak, but somehow it feels like cheating. And isn’t life all about the struggle? Well, not really. But is sounds very ambassador-like and noble and I am nothing, if not a noble terrier.
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