Growing older, or growing up?
Last Tuesday brought back a few memories as I went for an evening paddle (another very rare summer evening with Hurley running!) with James F and Ed Hopper - the two people I started my 'Hurley paddling career' with, nearly 10 years ago.
It wasn't the fact that we hadn't been boating together for so long that made me feel old, nor the fact that it was a 3-gater and there were 20 people in the eddy who will now only queue for the 'middle gate wave' and no longer even try to go into the 'first gate hole' to cartwheel, or even loop (although we did try to encourage the way it used to be done: '3 people in 3 gates' to make the queue move faster). It certainly wasn't the fact we couldn't keep up with the latest moves (because that obviously wasn't true:) ) - although Ed did proclaim he didn't want to learn any moves that were invented after 2003, and James confessed he didn't have a clue what one 'new' move (a pistol flip) was when he commented: 'what was that thing that Alan just did? Looked good'!
After getting changed we took to the old tradition of a quick pint in the local pub; unfortunately our original 'watering hole' of the East Arms is long gone, having been replaced by new houses. So, the thing that really made me feel old (or maybe its just that priorities have changed) was our conversation in the pub - gone are the days when we incessantly talked about the latest boating moves, boating videos, boats, paddles, kit etc. Instead our conversation revolved around mortgages, house extensions, jobs and babies (not mine, I hasten to add - probably not mine on many of those topics!). Not a bad thing admittedly, as it is probably inevitable to get involved with these things at some point in life, but it did make me think: are we (or them - perhaps its not happening to me) growing old? Or maybe we are just growing up?
I'm thinking though that although a few priorities may change, as long as we keep boating, biking, climbing or in James' case skateboarding (?) that maybe we'll, at least for a time, live by the motto of FUKC (AKA Finished University Kayaking Club - Reading uni 'cling-ons'): Growing old is mandatory, Growing up is optional :)
It wasn't the fact that we hadn't been boating together for so long that made me feel old, nor the fact that it was a 3-gater and there were 20 people in the eddy who will now only queue for the 'middle gate wave' and no longer even try to go into the 'first gate hole' to cartwheel, or even loop (although we did try to encourage the way it used to be done: '3 people in 3 gates' to make the queue move faster). It certainly wasn't the fact we couldn't keep up with the latest moves (because that obviously wasn't true:) ) - although Ed did proclaim he didn't want to learn any moves that were invented after 2003, and James confessed he didn't have a clue what one 'new' move (a pistol flip) was when he commented: 'what was that thing that Alan just did? Looked good'!
After getting changed we took to the old tradition of a quick pint in the local pub; unfortunately our original 'watering hole' of the East Arms is long gone, having been replaced by new houses. So, the thing that really made me feel old (or maybe its just that priorities have changed) was our conversation in the pub - gone are the days when we incessantly talked about the latest boating moves, boating videos, boats, paddles, kit etc. Instead our conversation revolved around mortgages, house extensions, jobs and babies (not mine, I hasten to add - probably not mine on many of those topics!). Not a bad thing admittedly, as it is probably inevitable to get involved with these things at some point in life, but it did make me think: are we (or them - perhaps its not happening to me) growing old? Or maybe we are just growing up?
I'm thinking though that although a few priorities may change, as long as we keep boating, biking, climbing or in James' case skateboarding (?) that maybe we'll, at least for a time, live by the motto of FUKC (AKA Finished University Kayaking Club - Reading uni 'cling-ons'): Growing old is mandatory, Growing up is optional :)
posted by flea at 6:42 pm 
2 Comments:
New moves - schnew moves. I suspect that you're right about the growing up thing although I'm not convinced that FQ wouldn't fight any man / woman who suggested it.
Laters
Your just as old as you feel Flea
we've still got a few members in our club in their sixty's doing grade 5's and trying to
look like young things
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