Kayak Yak Yak Yak

Multiple Sclerosis on the water

WOW!  Time really flies when you’re resting.

When I took a break from my blog I had no idea it would take me almost two months to find the umph to write something new!  Trust me, it was not for a lack of MS ideas.  When something weird in my life would combine with MS I would write the incident down on a sticky note, intending to write about it eventually.

Now, weeks later, the weather is beautiful, I’m feeling good but am sick of sticky notes.   They’re not going to go away by themselves and so sticky note 1 (a pink one) translates into my latest blog.

Sometime last fall my elderly landlords gave me a prize they won in a raffle. It was a free all day kayak rental from a nearby surf shop.

When winter ended I took the prize to the surf shop to get the scoop on how the rental worked.  My thought was that since I had no way to transport a kayak, I would probably pass this prize on to someone else.

The business was owned by a couple in their 30’s who looked like the ultimate beach bums.  I say this in a loving, appreciative way.  They were tan and athletic looking and were wearing cut offs and shell jewelry.  They might even have had dreadlocks too but I can’t say for sure.

They were also very nice and very excited for me and my free rental.  They told me that they actually deliver the kayak to your kayak location of choice!!  How cool is that?  It was then that I decided I would use this prize myself.

But then the heat, humidity, crowds, mosquitoes and greenheads of summer showed up and I put off using my prize.  But when fall arrived, my friend Carly and I decided it was paddle time.  We set the day and I headed to the surf shop to make the kayak drop off plans.  This time the nice couple was not so nice.  They were suspicious and even grouchy.

“You’ve already gotten your free kayak.”

“What?”

“Back in July you came in and reserved a kayak for a busy Saturday and said you would pick it up and you never showed.  We lost a ton of money that day holding it for you.”

Ok, I know that multiple sclerosis causes some strange cognitive issues.  I whine about them pretty regularly here in my blog.  But would MS dare to go that far?  Would MS cause me to venture out of my air conditioned, darkened cave through the crowds and bugs and take myself to a surf shop to reserve a kayak I couldn’t transport?

I know that MS does some pretty bizarre things and nothing about life with MS surprises me anymore. But seriously?

Fact was, I had started to look forward to this prize and had recently stopped my blog, telling my readers I was going to get out more and get exercise.  I needed this kayak!

I proclaimed my innocence and swore that the person they met in July wasn’t me and I must have appeared honest enough because eventually they believed me.  They admitted it might have been another woman who looked like me.   To that woman I say, “Lady who looks like me, cease and desist! Stop looking like me and when you reserve a kayak pick up the kayak.  You are giving me a bad rap!”

Anyway, the couple grew nice again and we set a time and a meeting spot at a beautiful lake.

The September day dawned gloriously- sunny, not at all hot, light breezes and perfect for a day on a lake.  Carly and I packed lunch, bug spray and bottled water and headed to the meeting spot.   I was keeping my ‘take better care of myself’ promise to my blog readers; I packed fruit.  And not just because chocolate and ice cream melt on warm days.

Carly and I waited for our boat.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Did I mess up the time?  Now THAT is something MS would totally do.

Was I at the wrong lake?  MS would totally do that too.

What if I messed up the time and the surf shop people thought I had kayak scammed them again???

What if they thought I was a twisted individual who enjoyed going from place to place requesting kayaks and then disappearing?  I don’t have a lot of excitement in my life but they can’t possibly think that’s how I get my kicks, could they?

I called the cell phone number they had given me.  No answer and so I left a message.  I called the store.   No answer and so I left a message.  I repeated this again, half an hour later.

Now even Carly was convinced I was the crazy lady who never had any intention of actually using a kayak; I just liked to reserve them.

An hour and half later Carly and I were about to give up when the surf folks called.  Of course they had dropped off the kayak- didn’t I see it?

They had decided to show up earlier than the meet time and just left it for me next to the rack with all the privately owned, padlocked kayaks.  My reserved kayak was there waiting for me.  It was orange.

I walked over and sure enough, there was one lone, unchained kayak with a paddle and a life jacket inside.  Didn’t I know that was for me?

Is it just me or is that not crazy? Did MS keep me from psychically knowing a kayak was there with my name on it?

Well, it didn’t have my name on it but it WAS orange, the official MS color.  Should that have been enough to let me know that kayak was waiting for me?

Carly thought it was weird too and assured me that on this particular issue, and only on this issue, the confusion was not due to MS but due to the quirkiness that comes from my little area of the world.  She said something like “of all the Cape Cod stories I have ever heard, this is the Cape Coddiest.”

By the way, at the end of the call the surf people told me that I would really enjoy my kayaking experience that day as it was so beautiful out.  They knew; they had been out kayaking all morning!

Anyway, once we straightened the details out, it was an awesome afternoon.  We took turns taking the boat out and even invited other friends to join us for their own paddle around the lake.

When they were done with their turns I offered them grapes- they needed to be healthy after all and Carly and I had finished the potato chips while we were waiting for the boat that was right next to us.

My arms have never been strong to begin with and so it was quite the site watching me hoist my butt in and out of the little boat.  But once on the quiet lake there was nothing like the soft sound the paddle made as it gently stroked the water.  I was at total peace, soaking up some natural Vitamin D and exercising!

I knew I would pay for it the next day; that my arms would be throbbing with pain from this exertion they weren’t used to.  But MS surprised me yet again.  The next morning my arms were fine.  My legs however, were on fire.

How does that work?  All my legs did was rest in the boat while my wimpy arms moved them around a beautiful lake.  Go figure.

So in the end, it was a great day.  And an MS story wouldn’t be an MS story without a little confusion to add some intrigue.

I wonder how MS will handle the next exercise adventure?????

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