Exotic vs Local boxes to be ticked...
I’ve always been a daydreamer, ever since I was a boy cycling down farm tracks and rambling along forest paths imagining being elsewhere and in another time. This kind of time spent, or time wasted depending on your point of view, has followed me in life over many miles and through many years. At times it’s a wonderful thing, allowing me to see an otherwise ordinary place from a different perspective. Rose coloured glasses? Perhaps. What one person sees as a dreary locale for example, I might see the overlooked details of native wildflowers and wildlife, and sometimes a magical scene right before our very eyes; all we have to do is stop, look, and listen.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been soaking up some scenery and wildlife, ticking flora and fauna bucket list boxes, and been interrupted by someone barging through on foot, bicycle or by boat, they being completely oblivious to the treasures all around them. But I’ve been a guilty daydreamer too. I remember one such time I was cycling along a country trail in a summer evening, wishing I were doing the exact same thing elsewhere. I thought of the English countryside, with a fiery sun staining the sky pink and purple, a myriad of butterflies and birds flitting through the trailside flowers, and cattle in a meadow drinking from a stream while a farmer patiently mowed the midsummer hay. As I listed what I’d really like to see around me, I didn’t notice that those very things were all around me, I‘d just been oblivious to the magic right there in front of me. When I finally realized my foolishness, I muttered to myself and cycled on, swearing to never again miss the “greener grass on my side of the fence”.
However, I am still prone to taking places for granted. I noticed a local stream nearly a decade ago, and after walking it’s banks, thought about paddling it. I forgot all about it till only very recently, when I read a trip report about stream paddling in another country, and had the foolish audacity to wish I had just such a stream to explore. Driving past this little waterway recently jogged my memory and brought to mind my long forgotten plans of paddling it. This stream, like so many other local gems, has been under my nose all along, if only I’d pull my head out of the clouds to stop, look, and listen.
My paddling “bucket” list is much like other lists I have. They’re more “wish” lists than anything. “That looks nice, I think I’d like to go there-see that some day”. I used to put ticks next to birds, trees and wildflowers in guidebooks years ago, and have stumbled across real gems in the most unexpected places. The wild Eastern Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) scattered around my yard, I harvested from seed in a local Carolinian forest years ago. I came across it while taking a hasty pee break in a sun- dappled glade. I’d never seen Columbines in the wild anywhere before! Whoa! Tick. Another time I was sipping from my bicycle water bottle standing quietly near a forest stream, when I looked over to see a Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) only 10 feet away! Holy Mother of! Tick. I wasn’t even out birding that day! But, you never can tell when these things will happen. Stop, look, listen.
Paddling can be the same opportunistic grab bag. Many places have been dropped from my list many years ago, as we lack the funds, skill, and wandering kismet to find ourselves there. But, other opportunities have crossed our paths. Some we waste, some we profit from. So it goes.
My wife and I hope to tick some paddling bucket list boxes for as long as we may. For some we’ll be wearing rose coloured glasses for the duration of our trip, and for others, no daydreaming will be necessary.
We’ll stop, look, and listen. We won’t want to miss a thing.