Bubba Sue

I guess we all expected Bubba Sue to turn back at some point on the trip. She swam along side making agonizing groans with each breath as if it would soon be her last. Sometimes when the bank was shallow enough, she would gain footing and then become a true athlete, leaping and bounding over fallen trees, then splashing like a great whale again in the water. It was a beautiful sight, but we were all worried. Finally, someone felt sorry for her and pulled over to let her into their boat for a while. She didn't stay. All in all she rode in 5 of the 6 canoes. Not mine.

At 1:00 p.m. we landed on a little island for lunch. My lunch consisted of peanut butter crackers and a coke. Henny had jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce, a huge sub sandwich and beer. Jim told every good joke he could think of and a couple of bad ones, too. I quipped. That's what I do. I quip. People laugh so I keep doing it. I guess it could be listed as one of my hobbies.

One of the guys kicked back to take a nap and his shorts revealed more than he intended, or at least I hoped. But then, why didn't he wear underwear? I did not look. Really, I did not. One of the other gals sitting next to me said something to her friend and her friend laughed. "What?" I said, "I missed it." "Private Joke," she replied. I looked over at the exposition and said, "Yeah, very private, huh?" They howled and rolled. I picked up a rock and threw it at him so he would shift his position. He did not move. So then I looked for rocks, which is something else I do. Rock hound. I found a really nice one which had a fossil remains and then I told the story of my friend in California who had sent me an arrowhead he had found on his most recent vacation and what he said in his note. "Only three hands have touched this ancient tool. He who made it. He who found it. And the one to whom it is given." I framed it so it would stay that way. Everyone said "Awww" and sighed.

Why does the creator give such spirit to some animals and not others? To be able to survive in the wild, living under the stars, courting death and dancing with life? And here we are, sophisticated men and women, with shattered dreams and sheltered lives, doing our damnedest to stay alive. Taking a chartered trek into the wilderness, but how can we compete with Bubba Sue?

She doesn't drive a Volvo or own a credit card. She owns no clothes. Has no job. Never once has she voted. Doesn't keep a journal or say her prayers at night. Doesn't know a one of us by name. Hey, come to think of it, we don't all know each other's names either. And loves us all and this river and this journey we are taking together. God, she is so alive! We are mesmerized by it and inspired by it and shamed by it and yet we worry about her?! We are all fools!

Bubba Sue knows this river and knows these canoers. She has been on this trip with us before. We're all the same. A worrying lot who need love but do not know how to love. Who need life but do not know how to live. She will show us the way. It's her joy to show us the way she knows so well. She basks in our company only because she is incapable of judging us.