A Note From the Editor

Our days on the river and in life can go in many directions.  Some days, all is good and fruitful and joyous.  We stick the eddies, we hit the waves head on and we look where we want to go.  We come away upbeat and encouraged, feeling happy about ourselves and our places in the world.  Other days, we’re distracted, off our game, not making the lines, letting holes grab us, swimming where we don’t want to swim.  Afterwards it’s hard to walk tall, to accept ourselves and our performances, to not imagine how we’ve disappointed others or not lived up to their expectations or our own.

No one understood these two situations better than Sarah Ruhlen, who died recently at the age of twenty-six.  Raised with a paddle in hand but facing the same doubts and uncertainties we all face and the ones particular to her, she paddled onward and encouraged others to do so as well.  We look to her as inspiration in her piece, “The Rules of Stoke.”  She knew paddling and life were about reaching outside of ourselves, outside of any walls we’ve erected as comforts or defenses and enjoying and learning from others.  Fun, companionship and the very act of doing gave her life meaning.  So, in this issue you’ll find some of each, the gift of Sarah’s writing about the hard won acceptance of herself and her relation to the world and some lighter stories and articles.  The next issue of Carolina Paddler will be devoted to what Sarah meant to us and to herself.