Welcome back to another edition of the good ol’ Boot ‘N’ Paddle. How was your day? Did you eat at Dana or the Pub this morning? Or, if you’re too hungover, you might’ve skipped it, making this whole line of questioning irrelevant. That’s it for the pleasantries—for those who don’t know, the “B” in “Boot ‘N’ Paddle,” stands for business, so let’s get right into it.

Our focus this week again lies in the past weekend, or, as the administration likes to call it, “Parents’ Weekend.” Now, most of us in the Outing Club have parents (all of us, in fact, except for Sylvia, who was raised by beavers), but only one of us led a trip with one of them this weekend. That’s right, folks, Brave Soul Ryan Schlosser ’21 led a canoe camping trip with his mom.

The Schlossers, along with one SLUdent and their mom, dad, brother, sister and one lone wolf participant, sent it all the way to Payne Lake in scenic Oxbow, New York. Passed many times on their way there by parents fleeing their St. Lawrence-educated children, the group arrived at the boat launch. Finally there, gear was loaded into boats and the vessels were pushed out onto the water. A lovely voyage began, light dappling across the water. The mile-long lake was traversed once, then again, as paddlers basked in the evening twilight.

For Schlosser, Payne Lake is a place rife with memories. Payne Lake has been paddled and camped upon by his family for years and was one of the first places he began to spend time outside. 

“I used to canoe that lake with [my mom] while there in the summer growing up,” he recounts. “She used to make me go, and I used to hate it, but now I love it.” For many of those who now recreate in the outdoors, Schloss’s story sounds pretty familiar. 

A childhood spent being pulled away on trips to the mountains or the lake, even though those were far away from your friends or your toys. Type 2 fun is a phrase many of us are familiar with now, but we may have benefited from in our youth.

“One time when I was like 10, my mom and I were dive-bombed [at the lake] by peregrine falcons,” Schlosser tells me with a grin on his face. “I was terrified.” For Schlosser, that memory has become something he and his mother share, another reason they keep going back to the lake. Because of his mom, Schlosser has a deep connection with the outdoors. In paddling together, they were able to have a memorable, wonderful Parents’ Weekend.

Of course, my mom reads this paper, and so does my dad. So, Mom and Dad, thank you for waking me up and pushing me out the door when I was a kid, even though I said I hated it. Thank you for strapping skis on my feet, even though I said I was too cold. Thank you for camping with me, even though I kept you up with my reading headlamp. 

Thank you to all of the parents who did the same things for their kids, even though we whined pretty much the whole time. You were right. The Outdoors is great.