Tashlikh by Kayak 2016

I have posted a number of times (going back to 2008!) about doing the Tashlikh ritual by kayak.

For readers unfamiliar with the practice, I present a quote from RitualWell on what Tashlikh is:

"Tashlikh, meaning "cast away," is a ritual performed on Rosh Hashanah (or during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) as a physical reminder of the human effort to cast away one's sins. By casting crumbs of bread into the water and reciting the verse from Micah—"cast all our sins into the ocean's depths"—we state our intention to return to our true selves. For many Jews, Rosh Hashanah is a time for reciting many words. Through tashlikh, we use our bodies and actions to do the work of return. Although the rabbinic authorities originally objected to this ritual, Jews stubbornly performed it until it became a "traditional" part of the holiday."

It's interesting at this point to look back at old entries describing past Tashlikh By Kayak outings:

• In 2008 I still had my beloved Audi, and I can see in the background of the picture that accompanies the post that Don and Doris, my wonderful former across the street neighbors, were still there. Don and Doris were original owners - they bought the house new in 1952,  raised seven children there, and lived in that house the whole rest of their lives.
• In 2009 I went with (then 16 year old) Ted.
• In 2010 I didn't write much but I made a cool video.
• In 2015 I went all the way down to Mason Neck and did quite a nice paddle.

 This year I went out the afternoon of Rosh Hashonah. I had already gone to religious services the evening before, and the whole family watched a live stream of services (you read that right) in the morning, so I was free in the afternoon.

I drove to Columbia Island Marina, which is undergoing a number of changes. They've automated payment for use of the boat ramp and I guess have gotten rid of the security guard, or at least they've taken out the guard booth. They'realso  re-doing the bathrooms. As has been noted in previous blog entries, the bathrooms at the marina have a well-known secondary use, and I'm happy/creeped out to report that someone has cut glory holes in the Porta-Potties which are currently standing in for the the bathrooms.

Anyway, that's a rather inappropriate tangent for a post about a religious practice, so let me return to the main topic here ...

For some reason I felt like paddling with my wing paddle, which I hadn't used all year. If a Greenland paddle is like riding a bicylce in a low gear, the wing is like being in a very high gear. Sometimes I can't make the thing work and I just struggle with it. Sometimes I get the flow of the stroke right and I can really fly with the thing. Today was the latter and I made really good time up the river to around Three Sisters Islands. It was somewhat windy so I pulled in towards shore and did the brief ritual. No rolling the crumbs off the deck this time - with Rosh Hashonah falling in October this year, the water was a little too cold.

Ready for the ritual

After I was done I booked back to the marina - again, a fast boogie with the wing paddle. This coming weekend a group from my synagogue is going to Roosevelt Island to do a Tashlikh ritual. I may just paddle over and join them!