'Real World': Nature's power forces us to consider—options
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 12:00AM 
(THIS WEEK, we welcome veteran communicator Terry Gallagher. Here is Part 2 of Terry’s thought-provoking series on the natural world.)
“The Lake is the Boss”
This week, we’re looking at the real world, not the ersatz one of pettiness and meanness we find in our work lives, but the real real world, the one made up of air, water, earth, plants, animals and sunshine. Many of us taking vacations at this time of year find peace and reflection out in nature.
But it would be wrong to think of the natural world as simple, uncomplicated, unchallenging, benign.
A couple of years ago, I went kayaking with a group of Boy Scouts in the Apostle Islands, an archipelago in the western part of Lake Superior, the northernmost point of Wisconsin. It was a little choppy in the bay when the outfitter dropped us off, but she assured us it was safe: “You’ll be just like a bar of soap bobbing on the surface!”
But the weather changed for the worse in the hour it took us to load the kayaks and start paddling, and when we got out of the protected bay, we were literally in over our heads, with two miles of open water to go. With waves going three or four feet, we could only see the other boats when we crested the swells, and water washed over the boats when we were in the troughs.
Scary stuff!
Later that week, we stopped in the park’s visitor center and watched the video where one old-timer was shown repeating a local mantra, “The lake is the boss.”
There’s a thing they warn you about when you take off on one of these adventures: Take extra chow in case you become “wavebound.” You’re wavebound when the water is too rough for you to leave the island you’re on.
Since then I’ve found analogies to that in other parts of my life, and I bet you have, too. There are times in the real world when we have to yield, to surrender our willfulness and autonomy, to recognize that the lake is the boss.
When have you found yourself wavebound?
How did you respond?
Please, click and leave a “Comment” below!
Our readers appreciate hearing from other readers just like you.
ABOUT TERRY GALLAGHER: After working more than 20 years in higher education, Terry Gallagher is exploring new ways to use media and messages to build stronger institutions and communities. Most recently, he has joined the board and helped launch communications efforts at the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, a new group with a long history.
Reader Comments (3)
Very interesting! The Lake was the "Boss" in this scenario, but I think there was one critical factor which, taken into consideration, may have left the paddlers still Master of the Lake. That factor was relying on the advice of the outfitter that evrything would be OK. It's lucky that it was only scary stuff, as opposed to "Call the Coast Guard! Paddler missing and unaccounted for!"
When we take the advice of others we should be aware that a.) there are alternatives, and b.) sometimes "advice" comes with a hidden agenda. Such alternatives in this scenario could have been to ask another "expert", check a weather forcast, delay or abort the launch...and too bad if the Outfitter is late for a hypothetical lunch date.
The concept that the "Lake is the Boss" doesn't relieve us of our obligations to face life with all the tools (and the mastry thereof), at our disposal, technological, common sense or otherwise.
Greetings,
I am new to the area and this is my first post. My name is Drew Angotti and I am currently the new Director of Youth Ministries at the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor. Having lived in hurricane country (Miami, FL) most of my adult life, I can attest to just how awesome and in charge the "real world" can be. I was there for hurricane Andrew in 1992. It was nothing short of unreal. Over 1.5 million people were without electricity. It took some folks I know MONTHS before they got it back. The beautiful mangroves on Key biscayne were absolutely leveled. It looked like a movie set of another planet.
The one thing that continues to stick in my mind though, is the Christlike behovior people seemed to show in support of one another afterward. It seems somehow tragedy is often followed by the best in us???
Thank you for your thoughts Terry!
Agape,
Drew
Sounds like you've come down into the valley of love and delight--turn turn turn