Monday, August 22, 2011

summer tradition

no summer in the life of jeannie is complete without a trip down the potomac on kayak! I try to do this once every year, at least. problem is it's a little tough to find people to do this with me. i remember dragging my friend gillian kayaking many years ago. i feel so bad in retrospect, considering she was wearing a nice denim skirt and cardigan twinset. she probably anticipated a classy lunch al fresco, with salmon salads and white wine or something. instead, she was sweating it out on the river.

this saturday, chris spontaneously decided that we would ride our bikes down to georgetown and get ourselves into some kayaks. i was all for it until i made the stupid decision to bring my camera with me onto the water. suddenly, the kayak didn't feel so stable anymore. the water seemed ominous and the wakes from passing motorboats became intolerable. i clutched my bag closer to my chest and started to panic, yelling at chris to "slow down for goodness' sake!" as i swayed from side to side.

and it was right there, dear friend, on a bright orange kayak in the middle of the potomac river that i was reminded of walter brueggemann. i've been reading his slim little text, Journey to the Common Good. In it he says this of Pharoah:
Pharoah is an example and an embodiment of a complex system of monopoly that, along with the wealth that it produces, produces anxiety that affects every dimension of the system.
In other words, Pharoah's crazy dreams and genocidal tendencies stem from the anxiety produced by his obscene greed and wealth -- wealth that he obtained by exploiting the Israelite slaves.

and it was anxiety produced by my devotion to my "stuff" that left me at a standstill on the water, oar lying flat across my lap, bag clutched to my chest as i scowled at the sky.

when will I ever learn?

i managed to take a photo, but as you can see on my face, this is not a real smile


*sigh* It was only after I saw chris's diminishing spirits that I realized I needed to pull it together. I tried to have fun, you guys, I really did.

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