Page 99 - "Mississippi in the 1st Person" - Michael James Stone (Demo/Free)

Oh boy I thought again.
There laying across the river

was a tree.

Pretty much a dead tree but
a tree none the less. A tree

just enough in and out of the
water I could not get over it,
just enough I could not go

under it. It was just right.

Oh sure I could unload the
kayaks on the mud and

marsh. I did carry tarps for
that very reason. And then I

could pick up the kayaks
since they were inflatable
one at a time and place them

over the tree. Should only
take a couple of hours.

After all, didn’t I drive over

a thousand miles so I could
play footsie with a tree?

10 years in Oregon broke

more or less and many sum-
mers cutting wood for in-
come, you could say I didn’t

have much respect for a tree
blocking my path.

Besides I could never look at

anyone in Klamath Falls Or-
egon in the face if I let a tree
make me portage around it.

So I parked the boats on the
banks and even “staked
them out” (I was learning).