Not sure where to begin with this one... A friend of mine asked me to volunteer and
help bring a large dock from one cove to the other. This was really a weird and symbolic trip for me...before we even started a woman fell into the water while trying to get in her kayak and ignoring everyones attempts to help her...Looking at this group statue (below) representing the people thrown or who jumped overboard is so eery given what occured at the beginning of this kayaking journey...
Each way was about 1.5 miles but when we got to the other cove I found the "dock" was in two pieces that had to be connected and was absolutely HUGE. The guys were great at getting it together and somehow magically no one got hurt when we threw this GIGANTIC thing into the water...but thats when the drama began. I and 2 other guys did MOST if not ALL of the work while the other three stood on the floating dock. I was already not feeling so great so this REALLY took some effort (serious AB workout btw ;)) to get this dock moving.
(by Artist Jason deCaires Taylor, see more at https://benzbaby.wordpress.com/tag/west-indies/ )
Halfway on the way back I started to think about my ancestors. Granted like most Americans I am mixed so I’ll be specific and say the African “slaves” kidnapped and brought to North America. Maybe it is the dramatic writer in me that made me empathize with their plight but once we finally got the dock to our final location one of the other guys who did the bulk of the work pulled me aside; he was out of breath and thirsty and brought it up on his own. He said, “Can you imagine not having anything to drink, no food and being beaten and forced to row vessels even bigger than this for 3 or 6 months straight? Only the strongest could survive that journey and the hell that awaited them in America…” I truly could not imagine this…it seemed like a nightmare come to life…I will MOST definitely be giving a moment of silence for my ancestors…
To them I say “I am truly honored to be a part of you…”
Each way was about 1.5 miles but when we got to the other cove I found the "dock" was in two pieces that had to be connected and was absolutely HUGE. The guys were great at getting it together and somehow magically no one got hurt when we threw this GIGANTIC thing into the water...but thats when the drama began. I and 2 other guys did MOST if not ALL of the work while the other three stood on the floating dock. I was already not feeling so great so this REALLY took some effort (serious AB workout btw ;)) to get this dock moving.
Halfway on the way back I started to think about my ancestors. Granted like most Americans I am mixed so I’ll be specific and say the African “slaves” kidnapped and brought to North America. Maybe it is the dramatic writer in me that made me empathize with their plight but once we finally got the dock to our final location one of the other guys who did the bulk of the work pulled me aside; he was out of breath and thirsty and brought it up on his own. He said, “Can you imagine not having anything to drink, no food and being beaten and forced to row vessels even bigger than this for 3 or 6 months straight? Only the strongest could survive that journey and the hell that awaited them in America…” I truly could not imagine this…it seemed like a nightmare come to life…I will MOST definitely be giving a moment of silence for my ancestors…
To them I say “I am truly honored to be a part of you…”
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