Earlier this summer, Kim and I were at rowing practice, and we were in a quad together (that is a sculling boat, where each of the four rowers has two oars). Kim was in the stroke seat at the front of the boat, so she was setting the pace. I was in the bow of the boat, so I was tasked with steering. You may remember a Life Lived Outside at the end of last year about me learning to bow a boat. In the time since then, I’ve gotten much better at steering while rowing and facing backwards and am able to navigate the bridges on the south part of the Hillsborough River pretty well.
On this morning, though, I was getting frustrated because I just could not get it together. When you are sculling, the bow person calls for stronger pressure (think of it as more power) on either the port or starboard side of the boat, and the rowers respond, helping to turn the boat in the needed direction. But in this boat, we’d row a few strokes, I’d call for pressure in one direction, and we’d end up turned 45 degrees in the wrong direction. It kept happening over and over. I just couldn’t figure it out. It was windy and there was some current, so I figured that might be what was causing the issue. I was having so much trouble steering that I had my phone out to call my coach and say we were heading back to the dock.
And then I looked down at my foot. As if rowing isn’t complicated enough, you can also steer with your foot. That isn’t something I’d learned to do yet. Basically, a cable is connected to your right foot, and you can move the skeg (rudder) by moving your foot left or right, steering the boat without having to change anything about your rowing stroke. In all the boats we’ve rowed in, the foot steering feature is either disabled, broken, or non-existent, so it isn’t something I thought to check, but sure enough, when I looked at my foot and moved it back and forth, the cable connected to my toes moved! Foot steering was active! I just didn’t know it. We weren’t fighting the current or the wind. We were paddling against our own boat! Suddenly our misdirections made so much sense, and I felt better that it wasn’t completely my fault. I was able to disengage the steering, and our boat started up again, this time nice and straight. We finished our row, and I steered us through the bridges with no problems at all.
As we cruised back, I meditated on the idea of fighting against ourselves. It’s something we do all the time. We set a goal or an intention, but then we actively make decisions and take actions that make reaching that goal harder. In our gardens, our hobbies, with our health, with our families, it’s something we all are probably guilty of. The solution is so easy. Stop working against yourself. I know, I know. Easy to say, harder to do. But this gardening season or in whatever season of life you are in, I encourage you to turn the steering off and quit fighting against yourself. Remove the roadblocks and your goals and intentions will be easier to achieve.
If one of your intentions is to simply have a little more fun this season, then we’ve got you covered. We’re kicking off Fall in a big way this weekend with our 3rd Annual Fall Kickoff. The Pumpkin Patch will be open, scarecrows will be hidden, a hay maze will be ready for the kids to have a little fun. And there are still seats left in our Fall Container Gardening and Pumpkin Succulent Make and Takes. Tickets can be purchased here. Let’s take some positive steps together towards a fun, happy, and fulfilling Fall in the Garden.
