"Ok, the keyboard is an inanimate object, John. Doesn’t respond to feathers."

Well, my planned column activity for this week fell through because of the weather today, so this week I’m writing about… um, hopefully I’ll get an idea by the next paragraph.
Or not! Hmmm. Maybe if I get good and hopped up on caffeine….
Well that didn’t work out too well because this is not John anymore. This is Sam Morgan, the Star’s resident intern. John couldn’t figure out anything to write so he asked me to step in and write for him. I don’t exactly know why, but here I am writing away.
“He’s off to a good start, eh?” – John
This being an outdoor column I can’t exactly talk about what I wanted to talk about, which was the…
“Remember now, Sam, this is a family paper…” – John
… impact of the great potato famine of Ireland. That’s family oriented right?
“Save it for the Lifestyles page, Sam, save it for Lifestyles…” – John
So about a week and a half ago I went on a mission trip with my youth group. Really great time. But at the end of the week we went white water rafting on the Nantahala River.
Now I have been rafting before on the Ocoee River and it was a blast. The water was fairly warm and the water line that runs the length of the river was just gorgeous. I was expecting something about the same. Oh how I was wrong.
“Tell us about it, Janet/Sam! Don’t leave us in suspense!” – John
We got there and it was overcast with a slight drizzle. Great weather for rafting. Anyway we took the crowded bus ride up the river and got in groups. We put our raft into the water and I took my first step into the river. It felt like the icy hands of death had wrapped their hands on my foot and ankle. I have never felt water that cold. Granted, I had been working in triple digit weather all week, so my internal weather vane was a little off. Our guide said the water was only about 60 or so degrees. I thought he meant Kelvin.
“Whoops, back again. Had to run somewhere – all those caffeinated sodas I drank. Speaking of water, play it again, Sam….” – John
We got off to a pretty rough start. My friend (name removed for his protection) who was on the raft fell off within five minutes of our voyage. He would wind up falling off the raft about four times throughout the whole trip.
Anyway the river itself wasn’t that hard of a trip. It only got up to class 2 plus rapids.
“With feeling, Sam. With feeling. Tickle the keyboard.” – John
Ok, the keyboard is an inanimate object, John. Doesn’t respond to feathers. Back to the river. I have been on rivers with class 3 rapids so I was expecting a little more adventure. But unfortunately the only adventure that came on this river was the artic temperatures. Every small rapid we hit that sent any water into our raft made every one of our rafters scream. The hills were alive with shrieks.
“If this is going to involve you dancing across an alpine meadow in a long dress, I’m leaving.” – John
No, that was the week before. But we all made it through the river alive and with all our limbs still attached and just a few small cases of frost bite. While it wasn’t the river I was expecting, it was still a good time.
Well that about does it for me. That was my rafting adventure. Hope you enjoyed it. John, if you ever need a break again with this column, you know where to find me….
Let’s hear it for Sam! Didn’t he do a great job doing my work for me? But really, I had something lined up and it fell through. And my muse ran away, leaving me with only rants on ethanol, bicycles, squirrels and my high school gym class, so consider Sam your savior, dear reader.
And let’s cross our fingers that my surprise activity works out for next week. In the meantime, I’ll have to do something special for Sam. How about a nice spider plant?
Because, as I learned in college, nothing says, “I’m sorry I nearly got you arrested,” like a spider plant.
Check the blog: jderrickstar.blogspot.com.