2012/04/24

The Kennewick-Man Expedition, DAY 23


I decided to stop in here today, because my pacing plan was to kayak for three days and then have a rest for one day. So, I was sleeping without meals from last night due to accumulated fatigues. But, at around 3 p.m., I could not sleep any more in the tent and wend outside, because when the strong sunlight shining down from the clear sky hit a portion of the tent, it made the tent very hot like a sauna as the sunlight heat air within a plastic greenhouse. If I did not stay in the shade, it was hot like a desert, even though I was outside.



A Mexican family, who came to the park here and sat at the same table I used, asked me to share their meal kindly. We ate tacos and breads with tuna-based salsa sauce on. Because I could ate only freeze-dried foods for everyday’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner, my heart and body was filled to the brim with joy.



At around 9 p.m., as soon as a thunder rolled, in less than thirty minutes the weather took a sudden turn from the clear night sky to a storm. As pegs came out of the ground, a tarpaulin flapped violently and beat the tent. As a lightning which hit close by flashed the orange-colored my tent with a deafening clap of a thunder, the tiny world inside the tent was filled with intense orange flashes; it was so eerie. “This is the weather of United States…” I had a fear of the quick changing weather from clear sky to storm. From lack of information and experience, I could not wipe out a possibility that this storm was a tornado occurred frequently in United States, and then felt anxious. And also, I started to think that if weather changes suddenly while I paddle the kayak, I will get swallowed by a storm, because there was little landing point to escape along the river. In the tent shaken by storm, the adrenaline rushed my system and swept away my sleepiness and exhaustion.



As soon as the storm blew over, the star-studded night sky was coming back.