White Rapids and Brick Towns

So I don’t know about you, but I love white water rafting. And after this amazing trip, I have officially gone twice. Practically an expert, right? Well, at least I didn’t fall out. The first time was the summer before high school with my Girl Scout troop, yep Girl Scouts. The Rocky Mountains in Colorado meet tweenagers from Illinois, GO! Ha. I remember being entirely drenched by the end and fearing for my life the majority of the time but still, it was awesome. Flying down the river with white waves lapping up the side of a seemingly flimsy rubber raft definitely gets the adrenalin pumping.


This time was a slightly different story, I’m older for one, though not more coordinated, calmer waters, sitting at the front of the raft (not my idea), and a significantly larger group but the biggest difference was me completely not thinking about what rafting actually entails (namely getting wet and sitting out in the sun for hours) and forgetting to wear a swimsuit and sunscreen. Opps. This time was (occasionally) flying down the scattered rapids, while having thoughts of a nice life jacket burn and a wet car ride home buzz around the back of my mind.


We did luck out however, on the wet clothes part at least, as the major sunburn for both of us could not be helped. The historical little town of Harpers Ferry, WV just so happened to be a few mins away so we jumped in the car after our water ride and set out to dry out while exploring a living piece of history.


One of my favorite parts of living on the East coast is the old winding road that ends up in an equally as old and winding town. It’s like driving back in time. I loved how the buildings grew together and how the stone steps have learned to bend under the feet of so many years. Every corner has a texture or a detail of how things used to be and I find that entirely mesmerizing. It makes me feel small and it makes me slow my step, feeling literal weight on my shoulders and in my chest to run back into time. Feeling insignificant or spoiled to have benefited to all that time has discovered but at the same time honored and challenged to become a part of what time has yet to discover. I’m certainly not going to build a city but I could just maybe carve a detail on a street of a time, now wouldn’t that be something good.