rafting

Yesterday I went white water rafting for the first time with Zoar Outdoor in western Mass, and it was truly riveting. It was. I was terrified before getting in the water because I'd been expecting the unruliest rapids, but once in the boat, paddle in hand, I felt much more comfortable. Even going through the rapids seemed like a breeze (maybe a bit of a strong breeze, or like, a medium wind), but then at the end of the day I looked back through the photos taken of us, and in every one I was leaning into the center of the boat being completely useless paddling-wise. But the photos were all taken at the scariest moments when we really weren't even required to paddle! I swear, I did so well other than those particularly unfortunate moments. Our guide was very impressed with the occupants of our raft; apparently we were exceptionally strong considering he usually has to deal with people who have probably never held a paddle in their lives. Thanks to my father, I've been on many kayaking journeys, being on the river all day for 3-4 days straight. I used to ride in the boat with him and let him do all the work, but when I got old enough I got my own boat like a real life adult. So paddling through a river is not a strange concept to me.

I was also feeling pretty good all day, and I'm pretty sure our guide was flirting with me as subtly as he could since my father was sitting in the same boat as us, but along with looking useless in the photos that were taken, I also looked, uh, NOT cute. Does everyone go through this? I hate seeing photos of myself, especially when I'm wearing a life vest and a helmet. I can't wear a helmet, not have on any makeup, and be out in a river for 3 hours and expect to look good. Damn it.