Fruit Salad

This is my mom’s new raft – an electric orange tangerine I hope to see bobbing down a river soon. My step-dad calls this photo “Fruit Salad.” Normally, if she were “en-route” she’d be wearing a mango-colored wet suit – only in the big waves, the little waves are relaxing and don’t require much work or gear. The river is like life that way. Calm water and a little push here, a little row there just to keep you headed in the right direction, away from the islands and rocks. The rapids are calculating requiring navigational skills I don’t possess yet. I keep forgetting how to tie the knots.
In July we are headed out again to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. I’m in Lee’s boat again. We flipped once. We made it once. She says I’m her good luck charm since we rode Westwater without a hitch last year, but I think this next run will see how lucky I really am. We’re even now, a 0-0 score. Some people take their chances with horses and scratch cards, but I like knowing that if you read and watch the water well enough, if you pull and move at the right opportunities, if you’re patient and don’t fight her – she’ll let you through.
When my mom was younger, she dreamed of being a river guide, but then wondered how realistic a profession that would be and went into photography. It’s good to see her living a dormant dream.