Some good reasons to head north… ~ May 17, 1990

David Heiller

There are a lot of good reasons for four grown men to take a canoe trip.

David, Paul, Dave, and Jim heading to the BWCAW

For Dave, it might be to leave his woodshop and clear his lungs of sawdust and take out his ear plugs. The air is pretty clean and quiet where we are headed.

For Paul, it might be to leave the metropolis of Duluth and the pressures of working with low-income people who rely on him for so much to go canoeing with three other low-income types who also rely on him, and he them.

For Jim it might be to leave the mental mazes of social work. Or could it be he simply comes to his senses and leaves Wisconsin for Minnesota?

I can’t speak for them, but I have to admit it’s nice to leave some baggage behind and head out for a four-day trip into canoe country.

Two years ago, on the eve of our trip, a guy called me at home, slurring his speech and cussing me out for making a mistake in an ad. It wasn’t a big mistake. Not worth getting drunk and swearing about. It bothered the heck out of me, but only for about half a day. By then we were well onto the Kawishiwi River, and that jerk sank with every stroke of the paddle until he was long forgotten, and still is, pretty much.

Last year, it was a school board squabble and some letters to the editor that I felt were unfairly critical. Again, it wasn’t long until I had paddled them out of my system too.

A canoe trip can put things like that in perspective. But there are lots of other reasons too; things that help ease the toothaches of everyday life.

One is talking with my buddies on the trip. Not like I’m talking to a bunch of psychiatrists. We don’t even have to talk about something that’s bothering us, though we might. It’s more the simple act of visiting. Like when you wash dishes with someone. Sometimes small talk, sometimes deep enough to go over my head. If you like the person you’re with, just about any conversation is good stuff.

The words are tied in with the adventure. Having a course set, but not knowing quite how you are going to get there. Following a map, looking for landmarks. Not sure what you will find along the way. The cliché people call this is “adventure,” but what the heck, if the cliché fits, that’s what the trip is, and it’s something we don’t have enough of in our daily lives.

Using your body the way it LIKES to be used is nice too, not behind a word processor or a table saw or a desk or a steering wheel, but lifting, moving, carrying, working. At first there^’s stiffness and aches. You careen over a 20-rod portage, panting with a canoe on your shoulders and a Duluth-pack front and back.

Then muscles harden, and you crack off a 100-rod portage. It feels good in a perverse way and you wish you felt like this all year.

This will sound silly, but last year when I came home from our canoe trip, I walked into the living room and did 30 push-ups. Cindy was dumbfounded. I grinned at her stupidly, but it felt good. I bet I couldn’t do 30 push-ups right now. But in about seven days I will. That^’s one good reason for taking this trip.

There’s plenty more too. I’ll tell you about them next week.