F and Bm

Stan finishing a roll

I knew I was retiring and I knew the date. I bought some toys to keep me occupied - a kayak and a guitar.

The kayak is obvious but not so obvious is its relation to the guitar. I bought the guitar to keep my mind active, to keep it from turning to mush.

I started out just simple strumming and changing chords. After a while I started looking for songs I could learn to play. But there were always new chord changes to learn or the dreaded F and Bm chords. A friend of mine has been playing for over 40 years and gets around it by playing bastardized versions. I wouldn't give in because the difficulty was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted the challenge.

Kayaking at first was just on calm water and forward strokes, concentrating on staying upright. Then a couple of times wind kicked up and conditions got close to the edge. I wasn't prepared. I looked at advanced paddlers and thought that's where I want to be. So, after a few years of calm water paddling, I ventured out into challenging conditions and I learned.

If its worthwhile doing, its worth doing right even if its hard.