Row row row your boat

Saturday the heat was nearly unbearable. The act of standing brought about driplets of sweat. So we decided to attempt of first family outing on the Little Miami River in a canoe. We drove 10 minutes to our north (in Morrow), slapped down $18 and hitched a ride in the van toward Fort Ancient and were dumped off in the Little Miami River. With 2 paddles in hand, 2 kids and a dog in tow, we scurried onto the canoe and started a little afternoon adventure and an unintended life metaphor. As we drifted off into the river what unfolded was more than a quiet afternoon drifting in current, but a humbling metaphor for our marriage and family. With me up front and Sonya in the back we paddled and rowed our way through an endless stream of harmonal teenagers and drunken adults, as our kids incessantly begged to go swimming, Sirius randomly shifted his weight and throwing off our balance and concentration. "Go left would you!", "What are you donig?", "I want to swim now!" our tempers got short and our "talking" became yelling and bickering. The kids became more vocal in demanding to swim. Sirius got more antsy and wouldn't sit still. The canoes and bodies were everywhere and it seemed out of control. Then we hit some rocks. In a jolt it all stopped. The noise. The confusion. I jumped out of the canoe, pulled us out and we were back on course. We skidded off to the banks and let the kids swim for a bit, while Sonya and I tried to gather our cool. We realized that our communication wasn't as clear as we probably had felt it was, not just for this little outing, but in our lives. All the noise and confusion, the interruptions and shifting of weight causes static in how we communicated. When things were calm it was easy, but there are always things we can't foresee to stop us in our path, and we have to "right the ship" as it were. So, if any of you want to test your level of communication, try canoeing.