Balancing Poles

Balancing Poles

Every year on the first day of school, I had my eighth-grade class balance poles because it provides a strong kinesthetic experience with feedback, one of the major themes of my eighth-grade class. Some kids could balance; some could not. After the first attempts, we talk about balancing poles. One of the points the good balancers say is to watch the top of the pole. The tip is where you see the change happening first. At some point in our discussion,I introduce feedback by saying something like “The tip of the pole moves. Our eyes report this change to the brain. The brain sends impulses to the hand to move in response. The moving hand moves the base of the pole which changes its relationship with the pole’s center of gravity which causes the tip of the pole to start falling in a different way. Which our eyes see and report to the brain and… around and around it goes.”

I’ve been balancing poles for more than 65 years. I can do a few tricks like tosses and twirls. And yet, it wasn’t until about ten years ago that I realized the real technique crucial to balancing a pole. I had thought it was properly moving my hand back and forth. But it’s not. It’s moving my hand down and up.

The reason I’m posting this essay is because often when I write something, a reader will interpret it or connect it to something outside of my experience, something I had never thought of. Their response expands me. So I got to wondering how you, the readers, might interpret and apply what I am about to share. Because though I think the crucial technique is cool, I’m not sure what insight the technique provides for bringing balance to the world.

1. To keep a pole balanced, its center of gravity needs to stay over the base of the pole that rests on my hand. I can do that by moving my hand around, pushing the base of the pole back under its center of gravity. But this becomes increasingly ineffective as the pole tips farther.

2. As a pole tips to the side, its center of gravity lowers. Balancing requires my hand to be directly under the pole’s center of gravity. If I only move my hand to the side, I can’t get beneath the pole’s current center of gravity.

3. The only way to do that is to dip my hand so I can move it and the base of the pole back under the current center of gravity. I have to move my hand lower because the pole’s center of gravity has moved lower.

Once I have the pole re-balanced, I can lift it back up to the height it was before it started to tip.

Anyone see a way this technique applies to the world beyond pole-balancing?

Since I have your attention, let me add this invitation.

Back in 2011, I had an amazing experience kayaking in the Warner Wetlands that I wrote about in Cairns. (A Phenomenal Place) The wetlands are dry desert most years but a significantly snowy winter can produce enough meltwater to start filling them. I returned in 2017 after a record-breaking snow accumulation and the lakes were much larger. Warner Wetlands Revisited. This winter, week after week, the snow keeps piling up higher and higher in the California mountains. The wetlands might be vast this summer. I am salivating at the prospect of a many-day expedition there.

Then I thought, “This is such a rare opportunity. I should make it possible to others.” So, you are invited!

We will be in open country, the likes of which you have probably never seen. You will have abundant opportunity for solitude. The chance to explore what is around the next bend of this channel, Brilliant stars at night. For me, the hardest part of the Warner Wetlands (also referred to on-line as the Warner Lakes) is the intensity of the mid-day sun. There is almost no shade out there so you have to make or bring your own. But, oh, the space!

You would need to provide your own transportation, kayak or canoe, camping equipment, food and water. If you’re interested, let me know and I can check around for kayak rental prices. It’s about a six-hour drive from Redding. You would be welcome to camp at our place the night before so we can head out together.

I have no idea yet as to when I would go – so you couldn’t make reservations very far in advance. Probably either early June or early July. I have other commitments the second half of June. I have a BLM contact that I will be calling as the time draws near to help me decide when to go.

So if you are possibly interested, let me know and I will keep you informed as my plans progress. I will go no matter what so don’t worry about committing yourself at this early date. You can opt out at any time.

Map of area

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