Kayaks and Other Missed Opportunities

I have two kayaks at home and two more up at our cottage in Door County. Want to guess how many times I’ve used them in the past two years? Exactly once. And no, not the shiny new ones up at the cottage—those have never touched water.

I knew I’d enjoy kayaking because a few years back I borrowed a friend’s boat on Rock Lake in Lake Mills, WI. We shoved off around 11 a.m. and paddled along the shoreline for three hours. We drifted past gorgeous lake homes and kids doing TikTok dances on their piers. We laughed, swapped stories, and soaked up each other’s company. At one sandy little bay, we pulled our kayaks up, ate fruit and granola, then dropped everything and dove into the water. It was a perfect day. The real surprise? I wasn’t even sore the next morning.

That trip convinced me I needed kayaks of my own—plural—for my family. Craig and I did take them out once together. We circled the bay, paddled around a nearby island, and headed back home. Kadon occasionally invites friends to use them. Aubrey flat-out refuses because she’s convinced spiders live inside the boats (which, honestly, is a very real possibility).

Me? I have zero excuses. I wanted the kayaks. I bought the kayaks. And now they mostly sit there, neglected. Another opportunity for fun tossed aside. Why don’t I grab even the easy joys in life? Because there’s always something else: the house needs cleaning, weeds need pulling, dinner needs making. Or, let’s be honest—I’d rather take a nap.

Owning four kayaks and using them once in two years says a lot about how much I let myself enjoy the little things… not much. Maybe it’s time to change that.

And here’s the legacy part: I don’t want my kids or grandkids to look back and say, “Mom had kayaks but never used them.” I want them to remember that I didn’t just collect possibilities, I actually lived them. Maybe my lesson here is simple—joy doesn’t wait until the house is clean or the weeds are gone. Joy is sitting right there, floating at the end of the dock.

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