PADDLE BOARDING

How cool is this? The picture was taken in Maine, at Boothbay Harbor, where I attended the wedding of my 'Sister' from an all American family I grew up with while at Tufts. The Cochrane family was assigned as my Host Family in 1968 when I was a Freshman, their home was in Reading and their weekends were mostly spent in Maine. During my formidable years in college I learned, through the Cochranes, an enormous amount about life in America, about New England, about being a Bostonian, about the Down East subculture in Maine and above all, about living the values of a decent human being ... whether one is American or Chinese. The Senior Cochranes I address as Mom & Dad, and their children my two younger brothers, and my sister. We have kept in touch 43 years hence, and my American siblings became surrogate parents for Terri & Jess, while they were at Tufts. It was a full circle and to me, the Cochranes are the walking definition of my 'closest family in America'.

Back to the subject matter ... it was a pristine morning with sunshine, moderate temperature and the calmest waters in the Harbor when I saw these folks paddling leisurely past. I am told as a sport it is tougher than it looks, which I am sure it is. I am not sure if something like this will take off here, in Hong Kong? I am not talking about the surroundings, not the quality of the water, not even the availability of equipment but rather than 'mood'. One needs the relaxed, sans stress, hassle free, the 'not a care about the rest of the world' attitude to be able to enjoy this kind of sport, don't you think?