The couple that owns the place we’re staying in Hanalei are accomplished surfers – that’s why they moved here from Santa Cruz. They have a paddle board in the yard and told us to use it any time. I think it might be lighter and shorter than the ones instructors use, because stepping onto it was trickier than I expected – the sensation of wobbly instability was intense. The bastard was trying to pitch me into the river from the onset.

After a few minutes of comical gyrations, I started to get the hang of it.

The moment I started getting some confidence…

…it dumped me into the river. I fell in three times in the twenty minutes I was out there. The water was nice – cool, clean and full of fish. I think tomorrow I’ll start taking swims before breakfast.

Getting myself and the board out of the river was trickier still. I took a spill climbing the bank, and went down hard. As I write this, my knee is bleeding and my foot is swollen, elevated and on ice. I hope I can walk tomorrow. Never mind. I checked something off my list today, and had a new experience. I’m a pretty happy injured puppy.