When I get out on the water, there is something really calming to it. My wife is the exercise person, and she'll spring out ahead of me paddling madly. When the water's crystal clear and the aquatic plant growth is varied green and red - it's fantastic for me as a drifter. Add what happened on my last paddle when I had adult bald eagles flying low over my head, or watching me watch them from very close as I drifted along the bank - it's hard to say no to that kind of activity.
When you're in the kayak, if you move slowly and calmly, wildlife seems to think you're some kind of centaur - half man half boat. Things don't fear you as much as if you're a pedaling biped. You look up, and there's a %^%$% eagle right there. I've had loons swim beside me, and on the sea, seals pop up so close I could almost touch them. You can drift over fish nests and they think the boat's a passing log. Dragonflies light on the boat and let you admire them. It seems the one time a large human doesn't cause fear, but draws curiosity.
Fitness schmitness. I know it's good for my arms and shoulders, but we only do flatwater. As we age, exercise becomes more and more crucial, but the movement doesn't motivate me with the kayak. The stillness does.
I get my motion walking or riding the ever boring stationary bike. Today though, that was the activity - pedalling and fish watching in a humid fishroom. Around here, kayaking ends on October 1 when duck hunting starts.
