“Have you done Louisiana yet?”
Mark Varnes, a fellow barefooter, left a comment on one of my Facebook posts. He invited me to ski with him in Louisiana as part of my Barefooting 50 States for my 50’s quest.
The next thing I knew, I had an assignment to speak in New Orleans, just 45 minutes from Mark’s secret spot on the Pearl River.
Serendipity.
Or synchronicity, as Wayne Dyer would say.
I hopped on a Southwest flight, grabbed a rental car, and took off for the river. I met up with Mark and two of his buddies, Brad Ripp and William “Doc” Kutun. All of us were over the age of 50–and we all shared a crazy passionate love for barefooting. Like me, Brad got back on the water just recently–after a 25 year absence. We spent the afternoon barefooting up and down the Pearl River, one of the most calm, tranquil spots I’ve ever barefooted in. Whenever there was a tiny ripple on the water, Mark drove further down the river until we found glass again. As a result, my feet were burning on my first run! On my second run, I decided to try a backward deep start behind the boat–something that had eluded me during the last several barefooting trips. The start was smooth and I found myself up and about–but I couldn’t find my way around the wake. I let go as I was afraid I was going to fall–but I was so, so, so happy to have accomplished the backward longline start once again!
Each of the guys took turns footin’–and I was impressed with their skills! I still have a ways to go to catch up!
On the way back to the dock, one of the guys pointed out an alligator lazing between the trees. Fortunately, the boat was going so fast that I missed it. I was really glad I was done footin’ after they found a gator! Check out the amusing alligator sign in the video that Mark put together:
Want some help putting together a Passion Quest of your own? Check out Karen’s book: Unwrapping Your Passion.
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