(lee spiller on androscoggan photo credit unknown)

I hope others are enjoying this inquiry about the tension between the lone wolf following his bliss, and the worry and sometimes grief that his behavior can cause the group. It’s a subject which our iceboat club has discussed and anguished over, for as long as i’ve been a member.

And Bob Lombardo, part of that amazing skating duo, Bob and Karl, who are just finishing their 55th day of the season, responded:

Do either Karl or I ever skate alone? We both do, but I have to say I am more inclined than he, to skate alone. I know it is not smart but I require “alone time”, that is just the way I am. I have even skated on rivers alone and that is really not a good idea but usually that is when the ice is good and Karl is not able to go.

Jory responds….There’s a need for clarity and authority in us that wants this discussion to end with clear rules. “Membership in our club, the CIBC, requires that all members wear claws and floating, cold-proof clothing when on the ice at all times. We also prohibit solitary activities on the ice. Offenders are subject to warning and eventual dismissal.”

As I look back at what I’ve posted here over the years….the times i’ve waxed a bit “cosmic”…the times that even this failing mind has not forgotten…. they were often times of group activity….but perhaps a quarter of them were alone or semi-alone activities…alone in the beauty of wild space….sacred space i sometimes say….without these times…these precious times…my interest in the ice community would still exist, but it would be very much diminished…. club rules, encouraging the facile judgement of another’s behavior, while trying to fill in the valleys of risk, would have chopped off the mountains of joy…. so i’m glad we’re not regulated….i’m glad we’re staying in undefined, open space…

That said, in these past days, i’ve seen important areas to improve: It’s important to have strict rules for racing, and for all boat encounters. It’s important to share knowledge about safety, and to speak up, in a kindly way, about its lapses…It’s important to take new-comers under our protective wing….and above all, the lone wolf must find a human voice… must strive to communicate in spite of the fear that communication will nix adventure…really….you can have your cake and eat it too…

if you’re with others, you can tell them what you’re doing, why and how….you can listen to and take in their concerns…and then… you can thoughtfully act…not as a defiant loose cannon…but as a confident contributor to the community…which is stronger for each diverse, creative member….if something then happens, it has a different feel…there still will be sadness….grief….but the feelings are less conflicted…more positive….though we may have disagreed…on some level we understand, and are connected.