From Eldest Son:
Crew is really great. Stroking with seven other people in synchronicity is beatific (although we are not very good at this), and it’s really nice to wake up in the dark but NOT need to get into a frigid pool. Friday morning we were overtaken by the Annapolis rowing club, with whom we share a boathouse, and we could hear their oars submerging and surfacing rhythmically, and we could hear the click of the turning of the oars in the oar locks all simultaneously. It was a very pretty moment. Also that morning we saw a heron stand for a while and then glide across the water. It looked like a dinosaur might in its movements.

Why does this entry above all others warrant a citing on your site?
I really thought that this letter was particularly stilted and wordy and sterile. Do you disagree?
Overall, I do agree. I assumed it was a tone of voice you adopted deliberately, in a somewhat mocking fashion, partly because you were publishing publically something that is normally private.
I thought the paragraph I cited was lovely, though, primarily for its imagery.
No, it was not meant to mock at all. Darn.
I like what your son had to say about crew. I cox an intramural team, and I enjoy the quiet, early mornings on the river, too. There’s something incredibly beautiful about moving down the river with only the sounds of the oars in the oar-locks to accompany you.
I’m crew-stupid, so I did not catch any mocking tone. The imagery was lovely and even captivating.