Kayakcident

Come boating with us,
 tomorrow, she implored
 I, by my nature, am not a water baby, but
 decide I need to stretch my spontaneity
 Ever cautious and wanting to sleep on it
   by morning I call to say: sounds like a grand idea!

 I am instructed to bring a swim suit,
  attire I have not worn in years

  Digging through a drawer, I find
 an old black bikini botto
 and supplement it with
a black, French-cut brassiere
 I’ve found that nobody’s the wiser,
  if you omit informing them.

 As I drive in I see that
 my friends Bob and Angie have\
a well-built vintage 19 foot wood boat,
  and Angie’s little 9 foot blue kayak
 attached tightly to the boat trailer
  Glorious hot day in the nineties
  Refreshing cool breeze on the Lewis River

  which is for the most part calm,

 smooth as an empty dinner platter
  except for the occasional level 1-2 rapids

 Angie paddles along, exploring the bank                       
 at her own pace, as Bob throws out a fish line
 and casually trolls for a bite Bob and I chat
 about politics and the economy
 We slide easily through a length of rapids

                        thinking nothing of it

  Then Angie offers me the kayak
and the adventuress in me burbles: Yes!
   I should interject here and now:
 First time in a kayak!
 The first rapids go by okay as I get
   my sea legs, by the second I am
   almost cocky

   It’s the third set, which increase to level 4
 that are hell-bent on humbling me and indeed they do!
  The consensus is that the wood boat

 will take the lead, as the water bucks high
 about the time they struggle with a whirlpool
    and holler: Back paddle!    which I was trying to do
 The kayak slams into the larger boat,
 pulled down in the swirling cool water
  my eyes open, it is crystalline and refreshing, 
holding my breath instinctively,
 there is no gasping or fear 
I simply propel myself up and
  grab a big root ball

 The kayak, wedged into the root ball
 is clearly stuck

 Angie yells at me to swim away
 or the whirlpool will pull me down
 The kayak paddle on one wrist
 big straw hat in other hand 
I   kick, mightily
as the current sweeps me like a buoyant
leaf, downstream

 Kicking for all I am worth
 I cover a football field’s length diagonally,
 before my feet find the rocky bottom
 So exhausted and grateful
 for the loaned life vest
 understanding in a heartbeat
how people’s lives are swallowed by rivers

   Wading back to the island
    I rejoin my friends 
who are ready to abandon their kayak
 saying: It is too dangerous
 to retrieve
 I hear myself say: We can at least try!
 We try lassoing it, to no avail
 Then a hero happens along
 and wrestles it off the root ball

 Joining him on the opposite shore,

 Bob gives the man $50 bucks
We notice he could use it
 to replace his inflatable kayak that punctured
 during the rescue

  As we make our way back home
  both Angie and Bob say:
You should have back-paddled!
  I hold my piece, thinking:
  Good Lord, it was my first time in
  a kayak! I was barely getting the hang
  of paddling forward!
  I do feel responsible and
  fork over my $50 emergency fund
   to Bob to make amends
  Angie says: I hope this doesn’t ruin
  kayaking for you in the future.
  I assure her that it will not
 all the while thinking fondly of  my bicycle…

-summer 2011 

Review of: Steinbeck in Vietnam edited by Thomas E. Barden, 190 pages.

Steinbeck was a war correspondent from Pearl Harbor
to Vietnam. He risked his life to be where the action was.
This was an enlightening book, with a thought provoking
 format; a collection of Steinbeck's essays for Newsday,
 a Harry F. Guggenheim publication, a series of columns
 written in letter form. The title was,  "Letters to Alicia."
(Guggenheim's deceased wife)
The engaging format of personal letters make the stories
personal and real.
John Steinbeck's career was in its twilight years. He was 64.
He would leave this world two years later. This was a testimony
to how much he cared about his fellow human beings and how
much he believed a peaceful co-existence was possible
Because of his writing themes the US government would
not let him serve in the military. From their perspective,
he was considered "subversive." Truly, if you read the
body of his work, you will see that he supported human rights
 and freedom.
In this series of articles you may get the feeling that he
supports the military. In some respects, he did, but not
because he believed in war, but that he loved America.
Both of John Steinbeck's sons served in Vietnam; John Jr.
and Thom.
This book gave me a whole other view of the Vietnam war,
which I thought I knew a lot about having been married to
a Vietnam vet for a decade. For anyone who has been there
or had a loved one there, this book sheds some additional
light. I highly recommend it. It is, indeed, a valuable piece
of our history.

raintreepoet, reporting.

Review of: Steinbeck, A Life in Letters

edited by Elaine Steinbeck & Robert Wallsten

"In sixty years I've left a lot of tracks." This John Steinbeck
 said just six years before his death. His method of warming up
to write each day was letter writing and what a gift to the world!
This tome, and it is a tome, is 848 pages. It is a sampling of over
5.000 letters Steinbeck wrote during his life.
For me, it was better than an autobiography could have been because
it illustrated his relationships with the people in his life.
And I think it is more factual than a memoir could be,, because the
letters were written in Steinbeck's present time.
And I believe since letters are prima facie evidence,  no biographer
(without the use of them) could have captured the character of
John Steinbeck as a writer or as a man, better.
Elaine was Steinbeck's third and final wife. She was his companion
the longest-eighteen years. He said that he was happiest with her, so
she probably knew him best.
Robert Wallsten was a long time friend of both the Steinbecks.
The letters are John Steinbeck unplugged, unedited, being himself
on paper, writing about the writer he was becoming, became and his
thoughts on life, which are very much reflected in his 29 novels and
plays.
If you're a John Steinbeck enthusiast, as I am, you know he earned
both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes for his writing. He was not only
one of our greatest American writers, he was internationally acclaimed
and never left our soil until after he was already famous.
I write this today before returning the book to the library. I plan to
own a copy when opportunity presents itself.
I highly recommend Steinbeck, a Life in Letters. It is not only a
valuable piece of treasured Americana, but a valuable piece of
world history.

raintreepoet, reporting

P.S. I am back! I have been re-writing a novel this summer; The Legend of Brady Madden.
by R.M. Knight. Look for it on ebook in the fall.