Sometimes it is prudent to give up. I was paddling hard with the wind and waves coming across my port bow. The storm had calmed down a bit and I was making a mile long mad dash from The Evergreen State College Beach to Young Cove. To the right inside Young Cove was my lagoon and my Madrona tree to which I tie up my various small water craft. I could cover the distance in about 15 minutes unless the wind picked up. I hate to give into weather in my kayaking; however I had too often been in too many high risk situations caused by my lack of prudence. Although my small craft skills are...

Forward and Context I must give you a context from which I come up with my advice to beginning school counselors. I have worked my Education Career in rural and remote school districts in the state of Washington. We have been chronically underfunded and on average place 47th in the nation for class size. In other words only three states have larger class sizes. I have been: a Substitute Teacher, a Spanish Teacher, a Special Education Teacher, or a School Counselor, over the last 31 years. Through these roles I learned many things and principles which made my career in school counseling a...

I climbed into my orange plastic Kayak and zoomed off, to the green shallows of Young Cove. Just what is it that makes paddling this waterway such pleasure? Sometimes I think it is the Kayak Music. That is the musical sound of the hull traveling through the water on a quiet day. It is constantly changing and it is always calming to me. As I come to the end of the cove I notice that there is no evidence of the shipwreck which had been rusting and disintegrating in the shallows for more than a decade. I don't know who owned the boat or the story, but it is like the couple thousand boats which...

Teaching and Counseling in the Public School System is fast becoming an impossible job. I have worked in the state system for 31 years and some astonishing changes have happened. In the last decade good teachers (the kind you remember) are getting out as fast as they can financially afford. The new kind of teacher is more technically trained than ever in the history of teaching. However many new teachers have little or no skill in nurturing the social/emotional wellbeing of their students. Some even think it is not their job. There are other real reasons why the schools are failing our...

I love to sit in my beach house and listen to the rain. I like to drink hot chocolate and hear the rain tapping on the window. In the night I will often open my bedroom window so I can hear the rain hitting the other side of the house. Yes rain is a good thing in my mind, even if I am sitting in my kayak or canoe. This story is about joys and adventures I have had on wet days and nights in my small open boats. Come enjoy the adventures.