Theos-Talk Archives (January 1995 Message tl00242)

Hi gang--

I've been scratching my head about something lately, wondering
how to explain it.  I feel pretty dumb never to have noticed it
before.  Here's the puzzle: seven years ago I got in a canoe for
the first time in my life, and was immediately hooked.  Within a
week I had bought one, and have been paddling in that, or its
successor, or the kayak I got afterwards, virtually every
pleasant weekend ever since.  This was an absolute, instantaneous
addiction, hard to explain other than by saying the moment I sat
down I knew this was where I belonged.

Although brought up in a coastal area and having a modest taste
for the beach, or walks by the river, there was really no
foreshadowing of this obsession that would strike in my mid-30s.
I have imagined that perhaps a past life as a Native American
might be a cause.

What I just realized (after my father's funeral) was that there
may be some kind of genetic element involved.  My mother's father
was in the Navy for 30 years.  My dad was a ship superintendent
in a commercial shipyard when I was growing up.  For many
generations on both sides, my ancestors have lived adjacent to
water.  Could some atavistic compulsion have kicked in at a
particular point in my life? Why would I have been indifferent
for so long and then suddenly consumed?

Or is it all just coincidence and probability due to having been
born in a coastal area?

Sorry to pester you all with my dumb questions but this has been
bothering me lately.  All theories welcomed!

Paul