Who says being wet and cold can't be fun

The river trip was a success. Not only did no one die or even get thrown out of the boat*, but on the first day which was miserable, freezing cold and raining, we were all such good sports that no one even whined about it. Or at least not much. I think we are to be commended. When you spend two fulls days shivering in a wet wetsuit with several additional wet layers it can be easy to forget that you are doing this because it is fun.

The whitewater rafting was truly great fun and there were some neat bonus moments on the river, too. Perhaps the best special thing was a circular rainbow around the sun on the second day. Wow! I don't think I even knew that was possible. Also, not long after that, we saw an eagle fly by carrying a snake. Double wow! Omens both, surely, though I don't know of what. Something good, I hope.

My least favorite moments were my not awesome jogging-with-luggage stints which bookended the trip. I had to take BART to the end of the line where my ride was picking me up to head out on the trip. Of course, on Thursday I left home late and ended up lurching awkwardly as fast as I could move to the station carrying tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and my backpack. On the way home, we hit traffic and I ended up doing that same miserable arm-aching hustle to the train station from the parking lot where my ride dropped me in order to avoid waiting a whole 15 minutes for the next train. "Why?" I had to ask myself. "Why am I always running to catch trains?" It's not like the schedules are a surprise.


*It's unclear if this means there will be layoffs when we get back to the office.