Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. - Rumi
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry From Collected Poems (North Point Press), � 1985.
Reprinted here with the kind permission of Wendell Berry.
Through tattered clothes small vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;
Arm it in rags, a pygmy's straw does pierce it.
- William Shakespeare, King Lear (King Lear at IV, vi)
The bush pilot asked the Indian how long it
took him to reach his trapping cabin by canoe.
"Four days" was the Indian's reply. The pilot
told the Indian it would take only an hour by
pontoon plane. "Why?" remarked the Indian.
18 pages of photographs and sagas of rivertrips in the Okefenokee Swamp,
Suwanee River, Apalachee River, Current River, St. Mary's River, Ogeechee River,
Ocmulgee River, Oconee River, Altamaha River, Broad River, Shenandoah River
Flint River and Tugaloo Lake. (approx. 220 pictures)
(Click on the picture.)
American Management
A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race
on the Missouri River.
Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance
before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
Afterward, the American team became very discouraged and depressed.
The American management decided the reason for the crushing defeat had
to be found. A Management Team made up of senior management was formed
to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people paddling and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and one person
paddling. (The huge 35 to 40 foot canot du maïtre normally carried fourteen.)
So American management hired a consulting company and paid them an
incredible amount of money. They advised that too many people were
steering the canoe, while not enough people were paddling.
To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the American team's
management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors,
3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering
manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give
the 1 person paddling the canoe greater incentive to work harder.
It was called the "Paddling Team Quality First Program," with meetings,
dinners and free pens for the paddler. Even new paddles and medical
benefit incentives were promised for a winner. We must give the paddler
the empowerment and enrichments through this quality program.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the paddler for poor
performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and
canceled all capital investments for new equipment.
The money saved was distributed to the senior executives as bonuses.
The true significance of Sacajawea's involvement in the Lewis & Clark
expedition is that it was the first documented trip in history where men
asked a woman for directions and followed them, allowing them to arrive
at their destination.
If a man can pack a heavy load across a portage, if he can do
whatever he has to do without complaint and with good humor, it makes
little difference what his background has been. And if he can somehow
keep alive a spark of adventure and romance as the old time voyageurs
seem to have done, then any expedition becomes more than a journey
through wild country. It becomes a shining challenge and an adventure
of the spirit. - Sigurd Olson, The Lonely Land
Chores are easier if forethought is given to them and they are looked
upon as little pleasures to perform instead of inconveniences that
steal time and try the patience. - Dick Proenneke, One Man's Wilderness
"... I also enjoy canoeing, and I suppose you will smile when I say that
I especially like it on moonlight nights. I cannot, it is true, see the
moon climb up the sky behind the pines and steal softly across the
heavens, making a shining path for us to follow; but I know she is there,
and as I lie back among the pillows and put my hand in the water, I fancy
that I feel the shimmer of her garments as she passes. Sometimes a daring
little fish slips between my fingers, and often a pond-lily presses shyly
against my hand. Frequently, as we emerge from the shelter of a cove or
inlet, I am suddenly conscious of the spaciousness of the air about me.
A luminous warmth seems to enfold me. Whether it comes from the trees
which have been heated by the sun, or from the water, I can never discover
...It is like the kiss of warm lips on my face."
From "The Story Of My Life", by Helen Keller; Airmont Publishing Co., Inc., New York, NY
"Believe me, my young friend,
there is nothing - absolutely nothing -
half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats
(said the water rat solemnly)
Simply messing, he went on dreamily:
messing-about-in-boats;
messing ... about in boats - or with boats ...
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter.
Nothing seems to really matter, that's the charm of it.
Whether you get away, or whether you don't;
whether you arrive at your destination or
whether you reach somewhere else, or
whether you never get anywhere at all,
you're always busy, and
you never do anything in particular; and
when you've done it
there's always something else to do ..."
Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows.
The American businessman was at the pier of a small South Pacific Island village when an island fisherman docked his small canoe. The
fisherman had a dorrado and several large grouper in the canoe. The
American complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked
how long it took to catch them. The Islander replied, "Only a little
while." The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch
more fish? The Islander said he had enough to support his family's
immediate needs. The American then asked, "But what do you do with the
rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play
with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, Helia, stroll
into the village each evening where I sip rum and play guitar with my
friends, I have a full and busy life."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should
spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the
proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you
would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a
middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your
own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small fishing village and move to
Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your
expanding enterprise."
The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right
you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and
become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a
late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings
here you could sip rum and play your guitar with your friends."
