Successful Mission
You can be at ease only with those people to whom you can say any damn fool thing that comes into your head, knowing they will respond in kind, and knowing that any misunderstandings will be thrashed out right now, rather than buried deep and given a chance to fester.
-- John D. MacDonald, Darker than Amber
Sunday, July 2, 2000
One year ago: Creative Variation
Two years ago: Journal TV
Three years ago: No Friend Like a Sister
Today we tried the raft again. Putting in earlier in the day, before the wind started up, made things much easier. We managed to get going by ten o'clock. We only had to wait a few minutes, to give a neighbor Jack had invited the day before a chance to show up. Jack had said "ten-ish", and I told him that before ten o'clock doesn't qualify as ten-ish.
Jack drove over to the river on the edge of his parents' place, and we got the raft in the water, as we did yesterday. His daughter H--- and I were in the front, and he was in the rowing frame at the back of the boat. It was a gorgeous day, bright and mild with just a bit of a breeze.
There were a few class 2 rapids between our starting place and the town of Klickitat, where we intended to finish. Mostly we floated, observing the birds and admiring the scenery. Jack didn't want to push things too hard, but as we approached the town, we decided to go a bit further, to the Pitt rapids. We were having a good time, and didn't want to quit just yet.
There's a swimming hole with a small beach at the town. We had to pull in at the upstream end, because two men were fishing off the beach and we didn't want to interfere with their lines. Jack and I chatted idly with them while H--- ran the few blocks to call Jack's mom and inform her of the change of plans.
When we put out again, I was interested to see this side of Klickitat. I've been to the store by the main road, but I've not had the chance to walk around the streets and inspect the place. The houses near the water ranged from modest to shack. Jack identified one building as an actual apartment building, with four units. Living so close to the water, you are taking a risk from flooding. Some houses in "Suburbia," a short distance upstream, have been rebuilt on special high foundations after being water-damaged.
We went through some of the bigger rapids we've experienced so far on the way to Pitt. (The particular bend in the river called Pitt was named after someone who built there, I guess.) We saw Tracey, who had rowed for us when we were rafting in April, with some fishing clients in a drift boat, and waved to him.
Crisis! We got hung up on a rock above Pitt. Jack misread the water because it had changed since the last time he'd been through. He actually got out of the boat, stood next to the rock and gave us a shove. At that point he thought he might have to swim for it (and I guess H--- and I would have had to paddle to shore), but as the raft came free and floated past him, he was able to hop back in without a problem. That was a big relief to me!
There was only a little way further to go. We grounded ourselves at the appropriate place where Jack's mom was waiting, then wrestled the raft back on to the trailer and drove home. Bailey, the Jack Russell terrier was along for the ride, hopping from back seat to front.
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In the afternoon Jack helped his dad and others with the big propane tank that his dad had obtained. It needed prepwork before being repainted. I could hear the grinding noise as Jack used the wirebrush on it. Suddenly, silence. Then, "oh, shit!" I ran out to see Jack walking towards the house, his t-shirt wadded against his abdomen. The grinder had gotten away from him and had attacked his belly! Fortunately his injury turned out to just be scratches, but I was concerned. I used bandaids to attach a sterile gauze pad to him, to cover the wound.
First the operation, now this. Was Jack's belly under a bad star or something?
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I've been reading two Travis McGee books that Jack brought along. The one from the seventies was ok, but the one from the sixties (A Deadly Shade of Gold) really had more than its share of nasty violence. The women all seemed remarkably ready to go to bed with McGee.
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