The Monthly

Mother of three and former Degrees of Freedom Literary Mama columnist writes about learning to scull (and a little competition).

A Thousand Meters | A peaceful day on the lake awakens unexpected emotions. | By Jennifer Eyre White

It’s not pretty. It turns out that I can’t pull hard and go straight at the same time. My boat smacks into a buoy on one side of the lane, and I frantically jam the opposite oar into the water to turn it. Lurching around, the boat heads straight toward a buoy on the other side of the lane. My wake looks like a big sine wave. I’m whacking my knuckles against each other with every other stroke, and my left oar keeps getting stuck in the water, causing the boat to dip precariously—but do I slow down and rebalance? No, I do not. I will flip this damn boat before I let Tall Middle-Aged Guy get farther ahead of me.