It's usually easier to float with the current than to fight one's way upstream. Though when things get a bit rough you've got to watch out for those rocks in the river...
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| Winter visit to The Sinks on Little River |
Flowing with the Current
When I drive up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park toward the Townsend Tennessee entrance in the summertime, I will invariably see tubers and rafters floating down the Little River. A number of tube rental businesses will be found on this stretch of highway leading to the park. For many, the float experience is a highlight of a summer vacation.
Drifting downstream is much the way most of us go through life. We are limited as to our destination as time only goes in one direction for us. If we try to fight the currents we eventually wear ourselves out into that futile state of resignation or acceptance. At some point it's time to turn in our rented tubes and get out of the river.
Years ago--nearly fifty in fact!--my friend Vernon and I floated the Little River, putting in at the old mill dam in Walland which is a few miles downriver from the place where the tube floaters end their river trip. It was a lazy drift of several miles down the the town of Rockford. We'd brought lunch since the trip took a number of hours.
There's a reason the river is called Little River. Yet there is power in even small things. We sometimes seem to get swept away by the smallest of influences. Later we might look back and wonder why we were so impressed by whatever it was that carried us along in its flow. Mountains from molehills. Mississippi Rivers from Little Rivers.
Vernon used to talk about taking a canoe trip from the Little River to the Mississippi River. He had it all mapped out and had done the research. Along the way he would have to pass through a system of dams and locks. But he was sure that it could be done and I was convinced.
He never actually embarked on that great adventure and instead continued to work in the same factory where he ended up retiring after 48 years of faithful employment. I asked him why he didn't keep working for another couple of years so that he could say that he'd worked at the same place for fifty years. He just said that it was time to quit. He was just flowing with the current which is pretty much how I guess my own life has gone. Not in the same exact way though. We were floating down different rivers.
Thinking back on our float trip down Little River I don't remember much other than the peacefulness of being in that quiet small river setting on a hot summer day. Oh, and the cows. There were cows at the edge of the riverbank. Their mouths chewing cuds of disinterest as they watched us float by.
Battle of the Bands Results
My latest Battle of the Bands was a tough choice for me. On one hand I had Van Morrison with "Queen of the Slipstream" from one of my favorite albums by this artist. This song secures a solid place in my musical memories bringing back sweet memories whenever I hear it. The song is somewhere in my list of favorites.
However, the crystalline clarity of the Thompson song is striking to me. Some of the voters also mentioned the percussion and precise guitar work of "I Ride in Your Slipstream". This song reminds me of another favorite artist of mine--Bruce Cockburn.
This is a very close choice for me, but in the end I'm going to opt for the Richard Thompson song given the choice between the two. And that gives us a squeaker that might have been a tie if not for a final out of the blue vote from "Homely Design Studios". Anybody know who this is?
*Flash!!** : A late vote came in from Susan Kane for Van and now it looks like it is a tie!
Final Vote Tally
Van Morrison 9 votes
Richard Thompson 9 votes
Next Battle of the Bands on Saturday June 1st
Since this date is over a week away I might just post something else between then and now. Then again, I might not. Since it's a holiday in the U.S. it might not matter. Whatever the case, be here for whatever happens whenever it happens.
Do you ever go river floating or rafting? Is your greatest tendency to just go with the flow or to fight against the current? What is the longest amount of time you've ever stayed in the same workplace (or worked for the same employer)?
