DIG !!

Dig is a word that I've heard a lot of in the last half of my life. It's not like I work for a construction company or a cemetery or do a lot of gardening. Dig is the word used to describe the act of paddling your raft forward. And that is significant because I've operated a rafting company for 30 years. It's called Otter Rafting Adventures and has a site http://www.otterrafting.com/ to promote it.

For nearly every weekend of our short summers, I have spent it outdoors showing people how much fun they can have playing on the whitewater of the Red Deer River. I've spent a lot of that time playing with them too - a lot of time. There are also the other tasks such as driving the tour bus full of laughing, nervous people or later preparing lunches for the ravenous happy people, to watching the same tired people try not to nod off on the bus ride back to Sundre. Sundre is the small town in central Alberta where Otter Rafting Adventures is located.

I am fortunate to have a wonderful job being around people enjoying themselves. The buoyant affect of this enjoyment raises the spirits of everyone around. A rising tide lifts all rafts! I know that that's why I have been working at building up this business, for all the pleasure everyone gets as well as myself.

It seems that there is always something different happening. The crowd's dynamics changes with each group as well. It's great to meet so many different people and get an inkling of how they spend their time. Venturing off into the foothills for a day of rafting one never knows what one can encounter. I've seen plenty of wildlife over the years. Deer, elk, moose - babies for all plus coyotes, foxes, pack rats, mink, wolves , bears, beavers, wild horses and cougars - almost everything except otters.

With so many different forces affecting how the day will evolve there is a constant excitement felt. The action on the river, the tremendous exhilaration of rising up to challenge one's fears, the people trying to contain their nervousness and the discovery of something new on the drive up into the foothills. The rising crescendo of effects that leaves one with a sense of - what a wonderful day! Can you dig it?

So check out http://www.otterrafting.com/ and see what the ground work for this adventure is like.