Cruisin' Down the River

So, when one owns a pontoon you need to take it out every time you get a chance. It's expensive to own a boat, and a fair amount of work. But why live on water if you don't have a boat? It's pretty. Sure. But all your friends say, "you live on the river and you don't own a boat?" Well, I get tired of hearing that.

My eldest daughter sent me a nautical cap for Father's Day, and at the risk of damaging my image of deep humility, I do believe I AM officer material, at least I look it. Let me know what you think. In fairness, I suspect there's a couple of old buck sergeants in Hawai'i, Korea and Washington state who would beg to differ...I'm sure.

It's the usual cast of characters, me and B along with the Bear and Galifornia, plus the Bixby Gals. We have access to three or four lakes and about five miles of river. We head down river towards the Power Dam. Actually we go north for awhile, as the Mississippi at this point flows north before it heads south toward the Big Easy about two miles north of here. Well, actually it meanders all over the place. It's not for the directionally challenged, that's for sure. Long story why. Bemidji State Park has a nice pontoon cruise and the park naturalist will explain it all, the Itasca Moraine and the whole shebang. It was a great day for a lazy ride.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood. In fact, that's why I got our boat in the first place!

"There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother." ~Astrid Alauda

Regal-ness in a backdrop of blue and green. The river at this point is wide forming something they call Stump Lake. I'm stumped as to why they call it that, maybe they couldn't think of a name.
Barb takes a bough...in the side. Too close to the riverbank and a tree branches out to say hello. Nature is so alive. Some would say I'm a bad driver and make me surrender my cap.
Wind in their hair. The Bixby gals. The younger used to have longer hair than the elder, but that was when she was much younger. I'm younger than that now.
Okay, so I couldn't decide which photo I liked best, so I decided to include hairy neck and smiles.

Ol' man river,

Dat ol' man river

He mus'know sumpin'

But don't say nuthin',

He jes'keeps rollin'

He keeps on rollin' along. ~Jerome Kern

"One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why." ~Author Unknown
“No sadder sound salutes you than the clear, wild laughter of the loon.” ~Celia Thaxter

Great blue heron stands,

Motionless at river's edge;

Avian giant. ~Michael Meuers

"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The woods are full of faeries! The trees are all alive;

The river overflows with them, See how they dip and dive!

What funny little fellows! What dainty little dears!

They dance and leap, and prance and peep, And utter fairy cheers! ~Anonymous

"The trees reflected in the river -- they are unconscious

of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we." ~

Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." ~Hans Margolius
"A cat, after being scolded, goes about its business. A dog slinks off into a corner and pretends to be doing a serious self-reappraisal." ~Robert Brault,

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." ~Clara Ortega

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero." ~Marc Brown

Pigtails and Bush Whacker. Brown and Gray. Straight and Curly. 60's and 80's. Rural and Urban. But they're sidekicks, identical sidekicks, you might find.

Fire Brigade. The wide angle lens not wide enough to see that Ash has Zettie's left foot, who has Shelly's left foot, who has Barbie's left foot, who will soon have the Bear's left foot, who has my right foot as I catch a fish with my bare hands (and nearly fall overboard) proving the old Bing Crosby axiom, that although a fish is slippery...it still gets caught. Actually, I'm cleaning some sand from the motor, and the rest is over re-acting.

Moon River, wider than a mile

I'm crossing you in style some day

You dream maker

You heartbreaker

Wherever you're going

I'm going your way

Two drifters off to see the world

There's such a lot of world to see

We're after the same rainbow's end

Waitin' round the bend

My Huckleberry friend

Moon River and me ~Henry Mancini with lyricist Johnny Mercer.

Barb, always willing to show a young woman new things, shows Ashley how to tap her head and rub her belly at the same time. Ashley at first thinks it's silly...
But being the trooper she is, Ashley not only does the rub/pat expertly, but does it left handed, much to the delight and satisfaction of her tutor.
"Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job." ~Franklin P. Jones

I can hear the bullfrog callin' me.

Wonder if my rope's still hangin' to the tree.

Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water.

Shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.

Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River. ~John Fogerty

Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon

With one you love, the sun above, waiting for the moon

The old accordian playing a sentimental tune

Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon ~Eily Beadell, Nell Tollerton

We actually had a person in the boat who was born and raised in Bemidji, that's right, right here in Minnesota's Great North Woods, and she did not know that baby loons ride on the back of their parents. The little one swimming fell off the empty backed parent when we first approached. Thank goodness the little one knows how to float like a rubber duck...er loon.
Docking the boat is a major undertaking requiring two men, a woman and a Llasa Apso who has the bow rope in his mouth.
The day before, Barb and Rachelle and Ashley went to Walker to save money...jeesh. So Ash sees this skirt and loves it, but it is a little beyond her tight budget. Silly Barb returns to Walker the next morning to buy it for Ashley as a gift. Ashley is very pleased, and insists she model it immediately. She also wants me to let the reader know (that's you) that she would never wear this skirt with that top. I think it's great that girls are starting to wear skirts and dresses again. Yup, I am. I am. PostScript: Ashley doesn't know it, but we've kind of adopted her as a granddaughter as we wait for our next crop. Sigh, they grow up so fast.

My first and last mate.

Anishinaabekwe, the Daughter,

You are the keepers of the water.

I am Nibi…water…the sacred source,

The blood of Aki, Mother Earth,

The force filling dry seeds to great bursting.

I am the wombs cradle.

I purify.

Nibi, the life giver…

Forever the Circle’s charge

I have coursed through our Mother’s Veins.

Now hear my sorrow and my pain

In the river’s rush, the rain…

I am your grandchildren’s drink.

Listen, Daughters, always.

You are the keepers of the water.

Hear my cry,

For the springs flow darkly now

Through the heart of Aki ~American Indian, Ojibwe, Minnesota