Once upon a time, I used to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to pile into a van with a bunch of other sleepy gals to drive to the river, heft a heavy boat over our shoulders, and slide across the flat water of the Connecticut River.

This weekend, I experienced the next best thing as I cheered on the MHC crew team at the Head of the Charles.

Love that dirty water!

We watched from the banks with our moose calls and hot chocolate, saying hello to everyone and anyone who was wearing MHC crew attire.  From the shore, it’s hard to tell how each boat is going because of the staggered start, but we analyzed all the stroke ratings, the smoothness of the catch, the sound of the oarlocks.  It was almost as good as rowing, and we even got to sleep late and go out to brunch first!

[For the record, a power ten is when the coxswain calls out for you to crank it out and row your hardest for ten strokes.  It is very effective, but always made me upset because after rowing a hard ten, I wanted to row an easy ten and they just expect you to continue to power through!  This, along with the early start time, is why I am no longer a crewton.  Also, my wrists were shot after three semesters.]

More updates soon, including about my new JOB!  YAY!