"You're killin' me, Dave..."

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I think I need to stay away from this Dave Herpy guy and his classes at Kent State. I’m learning some fantastic skills for group leadership and kayaking, but I don’t think I’ll live through another day with him. Okay…I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

I stopped by John’s place in Twinsburg on the way home from Kent after my kayak training. I’d promised to drop off the air mattress I had in my trunk which I’d put there for the camping I never did during the training. I had hoped to camp at Mogador, but was disappointed to discover there were no state camp grounds on the reservoir. In any event, John was preparing to buy another thermarest for our trip to the Adirondacks, but I’d convinced him to try my air mattress before making the purchase. Like me, he has trouble sleeping comfortably on our camping trips, but I assured him this mattress worked. “And we have two of them. You bought one…which I took…and I bought one as a backup,” I explained over the phone earlier in the day.

I pulled in his drive and popped the trunk as he came out to join me. After tearing through all the gear in my trunk and not finding it, I concluded that I’d forgotten to pack it. “Good thing I didn’t camp out after all. I’d have been pissed to find out I’d left it home. I’m coming down again tomorrow to complete the training. I’ll bring it with me and swing by and give it to you on the way home,” I said. He was looking at me funny while I spoke…not that that’s anything too unusual for me. “You sound sick, dude,” he said. And he was right. I sounded congested…because I was…and I felt like I was running a fever. “I went in the water around 1 p.m. and then we paddled for another 3 hours before I had to practice our rescues. I was a little cold after the first dunking, but really caught a chill after the second one. I’ve been feeling a little stuffed up since then, too,” I said…not whining at all.

I headed home thinking of all the preparations and studying I needed to do for my final day of training. I had to completely rethink my on-land presentation and I wanted to go over some videos of the stroke and rescue I was teaching so I had a better idea how to do them. I started studying around 8 and didn’t finish until midnight…by which time my head was throbbing. I went to bed and fell asleep quickly, but woke at 2 a.m. with 100% blockage of my sinus passages…something I have never had. I moved to the recliner downstairs to try and sleep thinking a more upright position would help me drain and when that didn’t work, took a hot shower and tried to blow it out. Except I couldn’t blow since I was so completely blocked. By five in the morning, I concluded that I would not be doing the final day of training…there was no way I could go back in the water…so I laid down in bed for an hour before getting up to go to Mogador and explain my situation to Dave.

I arrived there in time to see the sun rising over the water and took some great pictures of the fishermen in their boats on the water in the shroud the of morning mist. The glow of the long rays of the morning sun reflected off the water and their boats and added to the beautiful serenity of the morning. How I wished I wasn’t in the shape I was and could join them on the water with a sleek kayak to cut through the fog to get some other great pictures. When Dave arrived, I strode up to him to explain the situation. “I come to a seminar three weeks ago and you give me food poisoning and this time you’re not feeding us…so you dunk me in a lake and let the bacteria make me sick,” I said with a nasal-clogged twang. “You don’t sound so good, John,” he said while probably thinking I was some kind of delicate wall flower who couldn’t handle the environment. And I felt that way. I mean I was perfectly healthy and fit all day yesterday and, it seemed, in a matter of moments…was sick. “Look…you were doing pretty well. You need some work on your strokes, but you know how to teach. Just come down next summer and help me teach an intro class and we’ll certify you then,” he said. What else could I do? Damn…but I was close.

Still…I learned so much over the two days and would be able to put it to practical use with my own paddling as well as with helping people just giving the sport a try and since I’m taking newcomers out all the time, that would prove invaluable.

I stopped by John’s place on the way home and gave him the mattress which he tried out and thought would work. John is a treasure trove of medication…he’s always got something wrong…so I asked him for his pharmaceutical assistance with my clogged sinuses. He returned with some nasal spray and Sudafed. “You can get addicted to that nasal spray…so use it sparingly,” he said. I was desperate to breathe again…which I needed to do to sleep again…so I squirted it and inhaled while leaning my head back…as instructed. In two minutes, I was breathing again. What a miracle elixir I’d just shot up my nose!

I went home and slept for a couple of hours before getting up to cut the lawn. Even riding the mower, I felt exhausted and was beginning to worry about my climbing trip…now four days off. I collapsed in a chair upon completion and watched ‘Stand by Me’ with Jason. I asked him about going to the park to do the workout, but he’d already lifted and declined. Probably a good thing since I don’t think I could have…or should have…done it anyway.