Paddling the Dragon

My office signed up for the city's dragon boat festival in October, and I volunteered for the team before I knew what I was getting into. A dragon boat is a long, narrow canoe with a carved dragon head at the front, twenty paddlers sitting in pairs and a drummer at the bow who keeps the rhythm.

We practiced three mornings a week for two months. Our team was a mix of accountants, IT people, a receptionist and our CEO, who turned out to be terrible at paddling and delightful about it. Our coach, a retired Navy officer, was not delightful at all, but he got us in shape.

On race day, the river was crowded with forty brightly painted boats and thousands of people on the banks. Our drummer, the smallest person in the office, beat the drum like she was summoning thunder. We paddled five hundred meters in two minutes and twelve seconds.

We came in nineteenth. We celebrated like we'd come in first, with barbecue on the riverbank and sore shoulders. Monday morning, the whole office was walking stiffly and smiling. Our CEO wore his team shirt to the board meeting.