Richard Hopley, Oci-One Kanubi

Richard Hopley, Oci-One Kanubi

A Carolina Paddler Article

by Alton Chewning

∞ It’s rare when a photograph captures the essence of a person. This picture of Richard Hopley was posted on social media with a tribute by Sally and Bill Blauvelt. The photograph blooms with the personality of Richard.  Hopley died recently after a long, full life.

I didn’t know Richard well. We met on one of the CCC’s Easter trips when Kristen Roberts and I rode with him for three days. He showed us the rivers and talked about technique and skills but so much more. At the end of the first day, Richard told us to leave our gear: boats, boots and suits, in the van; we’d paddle together the next day.  The van became increasingly pungent but the aroma didn’t stop Richard from sleeping inside it.  Perhaps he felt the smell was a condensation of rivers run and the paddlers’ efforts.

The long drives to distant rivers gave room for conversation.  Richard was some sort of computer guy.  He explained how GPS mapping would allow for autonomous vehicles. Richard was a musician, still playing electric bass in a rock band. Richard was an accomplished canoeist, running big stuff like the Upper Gauley  in an open canoe.  The open canoe gave rise to his river name, Oci-One Kanubi.

Hopley was older but refused help with loading his boats. He had a method of putting his long canoes on top of the sprinter van he used. Others’ help would only confuse the situation. He was independent in action but convivial with people.

Richard took photos on river trips. He asked for names, first names only.  Every photo went into a data base, with the names and other details of the trip. The library of photos was available to everyone. A vault of river memories, stored like aging bottles of rare vintage.

Richard was a traveler. After his retirement he expanded his journeys, using his van to explore mountains and deserts. His later years were spent fully, no seat on the couch, but a seat in the present, seeing what the world had to offer.

∞ ∞ ∞

The photo reveals so much about Richard, the crinkled eyes, hidden by the sun’s angle and the untamed eyebrows.  The tousled hair and brushy mustache suggest a favorite dog, one you would want to reach over and scratch the moppy head. His face is drawn in a smile or a smirk or could it be a self-deprecating grimace?

Lines deepen his reddened face telling of days spent in the sun and rain. The lines spray like dragonfly wings around his eyes. His forehead is a tectonic pattern of wrinkles, the layering of epochs in a canyon cliff face. His hair is grey and shimmering, silver mined from a vein of coal. The hair is free and disheveled, not unkempt, but unruled. Sweat weighs down the strands on his forehead. Paddling is work, joyful labor.

Richard’s nose is strong, aquiline, the nose of aristocracy and good breeding. His head is tilted forward, in a shrugging conviviality of shared laughter.  His shirt, dark and green, like moss gathered around an ancestral oak. The open vee of the neck compares the bony whiteness rarely seen by the sun with the ruddy crenulations of a face fissured by light and weather.

A stubble field of unshaved growth cultivates his chin and cheeks. Never one to overly prize grooming, Richard is on holiday, no occupational standards to observe, no formal appearances to make. He’s letting himself go for a few days. The razor and comb will have their time but not today.

Richard’s head is tilted in a quizzical look, playfully assessing one more curiosity in the world odd and delightful. His shoulders are hunched slightly in a carefree resignation. Ruling over all is a high, tilted sun, directing its rays on Richard, revealing his life, his travels, his appreciation of being outdoors with friends. Many of us cannot stand this interrogation of a honest sun, this unfiltered look at what our face offers. Richard’s lines and crinkles welcome it.

This is Richard, outdoors, with friends, sharing a laugh. The sun and the heat are his partners. A man who radiates warmth and friendship and a joy in nature. One look at the photo and we yearn for being there with Richard, in the circle, the moment, the laugh. We miss you, Richard. We hope the sun shines on your scruffy, embraceable face wherever you are.