Go Paddleboarding

August is summer’s Sunday — bittersweet and golden.

To make the most of the last warm days, I decided to paddle down the Isar alone on my SUP board. The thought alone made my knees shake. I learned to swim late in life and still avoid putting my head underwater whenever I can.

Standing on the board, I felt both fear and awe. Beneath me, the dark water. Around me, only the sound of the river.

I had planned to go farther, but dark clouds gathered above me and the first drops of rain began to fall. After a few kilometres, my husband pulled up beside the road, and I stepped out of the water with trembling legs and a full heart.

For someone else, it might have been a small thing. But we all have our own Everest.

As we drove home through the rain, I already knew I would do it again next summer. I removed