Tyler Sellmer – Clear Horizons
Saturday, January 7th, 2012January 6th
In the end, everything in life is a cycle of preparation and execution. Today the Grand Valley Rowing team had a lot of life to it. In the early hours of the morning, a vehicle was dispatched from Sarasota to drop people off at their AM flights in the Tampa airport. Later, but still early, the balance of the team departed Florida for the refuge of my family’s residence in Georgia. And throughout the day, my family and I were preparing for the team’s arrival.
As the team’s boatman I say my job is usually “to pack chaos into a nice neat bundle.” There are few better at this art than my mother, who had an enormous meal ready to heat for the rowers, in addition to the bedding and other materials required to sleep them for the night. The Vans arrived at 5pm and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and playing ultimate Frisbee in the park near our house. We then moved indoors where we ate dinner then visited and some watched a movie for the rest of the evening. We end the night with a briefing about what exactly will be expected the next morning.
Tomorrow, in the early AM, we will begin the next leg of the journey which will find us in Michigan at its end. This is a journey that I have made many many times. Both in a group and by myself, it is nothing more than “my drive home” so to speak. We will attempt to streamline this 14hour drive with delegated drivers, a concise schedule of stops, and good disciplined as far as following and stop timing are concerned.
Maritime tradition dictates that voyages, endeavors and the like be blessed with the simple statement “Clear Horizons” a phrase with connotations going far past the line of sight.
So hears to Clear Horizons for our Journey tomorrow.
End CommuniK
Tyler Sellmer
GVSU Boatman