Think about Facebook for a moment. Are you thinking about it? Okay. Hear me out here. When you look through your newsfeeds, seeing all the things your friends post -- the thoughts they express, the novelties that tickle their funny bones, the issue-windmills against which they are tirelessly compelled to tilt -- you realize how very, truly, inexplicably you yourself are fractured into tiny personalities, each being expressed by the hearts and minds of the friends you chose. Done. Thanks for bearing with me. Now it is dinner time. Carry on in my absence, oh bitty pieces of myself. Oh. What if none of my friends exist and my FB newsfeed is truly a manifestation of the varied corners of my own mind? (The hairs on my forearms just stood up.)
I know I've been Cancer Girl — and her subset personality, Survivor Team Dragon Boat Paddler Girl — of late. I won't apologize for someone I am proud to be, but I will promise to get back to Creative Writing Girl now. No. It's not because the paddling season is over. Why do you ask? But since you did ask: What an end to our season! A fabulous weekend paddling at the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival. The weather was quite cooperative, and the water was helpfully calm (which I'm told is unusual for Penticton). Our hotel was right on Lake Okanagan and the sunrises looked like our race jerseys. It was like a four day vacation... I just had to paddle two to three 500 metre races a day in exchange! For my troubles, I came home with a Third Place medal (for the survivors' race), a Second Place ribbon (for placement in our division), and a beautifully painted tile (from groomeart.com) as souvenirs. A good, good season.