Thursday, June 19, 2008

Too many things left unwritten

This is a bittersweet morning. We're packing the car and trailer and waiting for Robert to see us off before we head up to Ontario. It's been a great week; it's hard to say goodbye.
There are so many thing we haven't written about: the rescue class, the rolling class, casual paddles in the Chester River, the presentation we gave about Great Lakes paddling opportunities, Jeremy and Noah flying kites, a day trip to Cape Henlopen State Park, and more.
But we can't leave before writing a little bit about Hannah's role during our time in Queenstown. She co-taught the "women on the water" class, bringing to it her playful spirit and her remarkable ability to work with all kinds of people. Her paddling skills are good enough that she can provide clean demonstrations, clear explanations and helpful critiques (essentials of kayak instruction), but that's just the beginning. She can also inspire and motivate students with her enthusiasm and knack for saying just the right thing at just the right time. And she's fun.

Hannah demonstrating the solid support provided by rafting up.

Lest things get too serious, Hannah gets students to practice their strokes while sitting on their back decks.

When she wasn't teaching, Hannah was either paddling around with Noah sitting on her back hatch, chatting with Kerrie, or practicing guitar. But when the opportunity arose to teach more, she took it. Robert was providing a kayak program at a local camp four mornings this week. Hannah went along to help, bringing to the campers her same set of paddling and people skills.
It's delightful watching her evolve as both a paddler and an instructor. She'll no doubt be both proud and a little embarrassed about this post, but we had to write it.


No iPod Left Behind: Hannah shares her playlist with Kerrie.

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