Saturday, October 1, 2016

Huck's raft

About twenty years ago I saw a show about some guys sailing/floating a Huckleberry Finn-inspired raft down the Mississippi River. I was envious.

I started researching houseboat rentals (because I wasn't going to trust my raft building ability) and what it would actually take in the way of river knowledge and boat piloting skills. I learned it would be expensive and not really something for a first-time boater. So that idea got shelved.

I've realized my raft-on-the-Mississippi envy wasn't really about the raft or the river. It was about the journey. It was about seeing and learning new things. And it was about the freedom to do that.

Ah, freedom.

Huck and Jim were escaping bad situations. I didn't have an abusive drunken father, and I wasn't a slave about to be sold down the river, but I had my own comfortable, middle-class, suburban demons. I'd had enough of that life.

My raft might have wheels and my river might be paved, but I'm out here, on the journey, free and happy.

5 comments:

  1. So in essence your life now is like creamed chipped beef on toast?

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  2. Maybe you'll one day look into a trip on a less busy and dangerour river. For instance, the Missouri River after Fort Benton,MT, becomes a wild and scenic river for about 150 miles. There are guided float/canoe trips available in places along that route. It is also a part of the Lewis & Clark Trail. But, on the road, you can go with your own flow.

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  3. I'm reading Huckleberry Finn right now. Lots of humor I never noticed before.

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  4. Hello, van you tel me , from who is the photo?

    ReplyDelete