By Johna Till Johnson
Photo by Vladimir Brezina
Paddling at Dawn
In response to today’s prompt by Krista, Calm. May we all feel this way at some point in our lives.
Copyright
Wind Against Current by Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.Authors
Vladimir Brezina (RIP)
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.Johna Till Johnson
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.Recent Comments
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Wind Against Current 
1 picture is worth much more than 1000 words.
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Indeed. And I can just imagine how he felt taking this.. he loved that feeling just before dawn, when you’re still warm and sleepy (and calm!) but the energy is thrumming through your veins, the eagerness to be back in the boat…
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Such a fitting tribute to Vlad, Johna, showing this, one of his most stunning photos, and so, too, a beautiful gift to us all. Thank you.
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More to come, Tish!
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Brilliant.
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Agree with Tish, Johna.
Looking forward when you share these with us.
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Where? I do recognize the boat. Thanks.
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Where? I do recognize the boat. Thanks!
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I am not entirely sure, to be honest. I want to say, from the shape of the hills and the calmness of the water, the upper Hudson. Many a time he went out to paddle and take pictures while I was still asleep.
But there’s the outside chance it’s New England–he went on a couple of solo trips when I was doing kayak symposiums.
Embarrassingly, I’m not sure which boat this is, even–he had two large red Feathercrafts (well, many more, but they were his “main” boats when I knew him). This could be either the Red Herring or its predecessor. I’m guessing the former, but it’s just a guess..
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It looked like it might be Maine. We talked about his visit to the mid coast. It could just as easily be the upper Hudson. A wonderfully rich appreciation for everything. Thank you for keeping this “window” open.
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Maine was my second guess, but I don’t recall him taking dawn trips while we were there together. I’ll try to find out, though!
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Gorgeous photo and an even more beautiful sentiment, Johna. This photo sure looks like it’s from Hudson River Island State Park– that early morning when Vlad (true to form) woke before the rest of us, slipped into his kayak and paddled out into the calm.. at least, it was calm until that flock of Canadian geese caught sight of him. A honkin’ Good Morning that was! XO :) :)
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That’s what I’m thinking, J & A. Either that time or another—he was always up before I was, and even if I was up I was too interested in making coffee.
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Lovely photo. Such serenity. So sorry to hear about Vladimir’s passing. His photos are like messages to you soul.
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Very much so, Marie. He lives on.
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The serenity of dawn across the water-scape is brought out in the pic in all its loving detail. It is as if the balmy waters are holding the open sky and surrounding flora in a passionate embrace with the boat afloat as a mute witness. As you can see, Johna, my words are stretching to convey the eloquence so richly embedded in Vlad’s visual. Kudos to the creative spirit…
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And his was creative in the extreme. He would appreciate your sentiment–and I do.
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To me its quietness and serenity….beautiful!!
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Drinking a Pilsner Urquell and thinking and reading about Vlad … he showed us the pleasure in simple things, didn’t he? (specifically- beer foam that one dinner)
A breathtaking picture- thank you Johna!
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