Back in the summer of 2021, Natalie offered to host Sunday Stills for me while I took a blogging break. The funny thing is she is now on a blogging break, and I will begin one next week. Short breaks help bloggers stay afloat in the blogging world. 😉
“Float through life, just take it easy, not too much stress, just float.” – Freja Beha Frischen
I thought it would be fun to re-explore the theme AFLOAT or FLOAT this week, three years later. I have countless photos depicting board sports and aquatic activities, so I went back in time to see what was afloat in my archives.
Sacramento Aquatics
My 20+ years as Aquatic Director for 15 public swimming pools made me hyper-aware of water safety. We hired over 150 lifeguards each summer to keep the pools safe during recreational swimming, teach swimming lessons to people of all abilities and ages, and promote safety in and around the water.
“I could float in the pool for hours, just letting the water carry me.” – Jill Scott
We partnered with the fire department and Sacramento County’s beachfronts to offer the free Life Vest Loan Program.
The Sacramento State University Aquatic Center
The university-operated aquatic center provides students and visitors with safe water experiences on Lake Natoma. Not only did I play here, but my classroom curriculum for Parks and Recreation Management courses included field trips to the center, complete with immersive activities.
“You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” — Mark Twain
Weather and seasons permitting, once the students left, I toured the lake using my instructor discount.
Delta Summer Days
After meeting my husband in 2009, his avid windsurfing hobby and summer weekends spent on the water inspired me to try windsurfing and stand-up paddling (SUP) for myself.
When I first learned to windsurf at age 50, I spent more time IN the water than ON it. I’m grateful I am a good swimmer.
“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” ~ Alan Watts
Mid-summer light wind days at the delta meant putting aside the wind sports gear and going kayaking or stand-up paddling, as well as playing in the water to keep cool. In this image, my two windsurfer friends LOVED the water, and my friends would do anything to enjoy it. Behind them is my younger daughter with her dog Gideon.
My older daughter trying her hand at windsurfing on a light wind day
Plenty o’ Paddling in Other Places
By the end of 2019, I had decided I preferred stand-up paddling over windsurfing. After years of bruises, frustration, and twisted knees, SUP-ing was my float of choice. Here, I am able to sit down on my paddleboard and use my kayak paddles to propel myself through the water.
Stand-up paddling is an excellent form of exercise. At the delta, I purposely paddled against the current for a workout, then reversed direction and floated/paddled with the tide. Note that I’m wearing a life vest.
Moving to Washington’s Inland Northwest meant hubby giving up four months of windsurfing. It’s his fault we moved here because most of his family lives in the Spokane area. 😁 As most of you know, we moved here in late 2020 once we both retired.
When he wants to windsurf, he can sail in Hood River’s Columbia River Gorge, a 5-hour drive to northern Oregon.
So far, he enjoys paddling the local lakes close to home.
Two summers ago, we visited Prescott, Arizona, as part of a long road trip that took us from Spokane to the Sacramento Delta, to San Diego, over to Arizona, and then back to Northern California to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We had our RV and paddleboards. We traveled with two inflatable SUPs, which worked out extremely well.
Since 2009, I’ve been AFLOAT at the delta, San Diego’s Mission Bay, California’s Mammoth Lakes and Lake Tahoe, Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, Watson Lake with Marsha in Prescott, and kayaked in the Spokane area’s rivers and lakes,
“Always be like water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.” – Santosh Kalwar
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
Sharing for Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday and Marsha’s Wednesday Quotes.
I hope you will enjoy your summer months around the water. For those living in the Southern Hemisphere, what you do look forward to when summer comes?
I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.
Reminder: I will be on blog break mid-week (there will be no challenge on August 4th). This Thursday, I’m traveling to California to meet up with my family, where we’ll scatter Mom’s ashes in Yosemite National Park.
Please join me on August 11 for the monthly color challenge, yellow and gold.
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