Kay & I spent New Year's Eve in the hospice, it was the quietest New Year that either of us can remember and as we sat and watched TV it was a good opportunity to just "be" for a few hours - to live in the present.
Now is New Year's Day and its providing a short opportunity to sit down and get caught up on a few things. It feels difficult to do much planning at the moment so I'm going to restrict my thinking to what 2013 might, I hope, bring on these pages & in that one "box" of life that takes place in the outdoors. Although by no means clear the plans do excite me!
Balance! Canoes, Mountains & Caves. Over recent months there have been feasts and famines in these three areas but I hope that 2013 will see:
A return to journeying by open canoe: short day journeys; multi-day expeditions and maybe even a return to some regular white water paddling. For me this is where it all started.
I'm also hoping to be able to make a return to sea kayaking this year.
Time in the mountains is precious & along with lakes are very much the local resource. Journeying has always been the inspiration, days out are fine but our girls bought me a new ruck sack for Christmas that should be small enough to keep things quite light and fast but big enough to exploit more overnight opportunities and spend extra time living in the mountains. Watch this space.
I've always found caving (& mine exploration) to be a very social activity. Of the three I regularly participate in its also by far the most physically challenging and interestingly the one that can be "fitted" into corners of time where other activity would be difficult. So regular caving activity, especially on winter evenings, will remain part of the mix in 2013.
The thought of trying to achieve a balance across the actual "doing" bits in these three areas in the outdoors genuinely has me "psyched" for 2013 but I'm more than motivated by new plans around how to record & report on activity. As such I hope you will enjoy some very new audio & visual presentation through this blog - keep reading! But for now, here's a clue:
Its a present from Kay - she is good to me!
Competitions - The last photo competition generated some discussion (well done to Bill for correctly getting High Seat) & folk regularly take a stab at trying to identify pictures I don't put any commentary on, so I think we'll have a few more of these!
In2venture - I love In2venture and have been involved with the charity in various capacities for over 20 years now. I'm very much looking forward to continued interaction with many good friends across the North of England, no doubt much of what is written above will involve folk from the charity.
NGB Qualifications - every year this is one of those Steve Redgrave "never going back in a boat moments" so I'm not saying anything but there still are one or two (or even three) things that appeal!
Challenges - its a bit like the above................................................................................................
There is almost certainly something missing and no doubt things will change but for now I pray that you will all enjoy a Happy & Peaceful 2013
Mal
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