From the archives: lessons in marriage

I've been looking at this photo a lot recently as our second anniversary approaches, and thinking about that day on our honeymoon when we donned the blue smurf suits and set out into the unbelievably blue waters of Lake Taupo. Lake Taupo is an old volcano crater, in the middle of the North Island in New Zealand, some twenty miles long (our trip was just a beginners' paddle around a small area near shore). The kayaking guide had given us the "honeymoon kayak," so called because it's-- obviously-- a two seater, but more specifically because piloting the two-seater kayak requires cooperation to get anywhere.

And she wasn't kidding about that. You really can't just climb into the front and decide to do everything your own way. It turns out that once you get away from the secluded inlets around the shore (which in this analogy I guess would be the engagement and the wedding) and get out into the open water, where things can get a bit choppy sometimes (do I have to fill in the analogy here for you? I don't think so) you have to work together, or bad things may happen including capsizing your vessel by hitting a wave sideways, or just spinning yourselves around in circles until you end up in the middle of the lake, which in this case was miles across. We left the first quiet inlet and paddled out into a more open area, still near the shore but the wind was kicking up some pretty good chop. Then we turned our kayaks directly into that wind, and I started paddling frantically and non-productively while Scott, there in the back, tried to compensate for my insane slapping at the water by steering us more calmly and imploring me to please settle down and work with him, for heaven's sake.

It turns out to be a rather accurate picture of us on many days. I am learning to paddle more calmly and to not get so riled up that I end up whacking my partner with my paddle instead of helping him move us along. And Scott continues to bear up with (sometimes almost unbelievable) patience while trying to keep us on course. He also does a screamingly funny impression of my paddling technique-- ask him to show you next time you see him.

And there are days of perfect harmony when we both paddle at the same pace, and the lake is beautiful and there's a gentle wind. And we don't drop our bag with the picnic lunch over the side.

We very much hope to get back to Lake Taupo and try out their three-seater kayak next time. Audrey's Pa Skip is an accomplished kayaker and if she's lucky she will have inherited some ability directly from him.