On a Roll

Last evening on the Speed River, we pulled the sixth tire out of the same stretch of water. Six, from one short run of river, stops being a coincidence and starts to look like someone’s using the river as their pit lane.

Getting it out was the usual routine: wade in, work it free of the silt, wrestle it up and over the bow without losing our footing.

It came up heavy and slick. We loaded it onto the paddle-board next to our cleanup gear and kept going, because after so many tire retrievals, this stops being remarkable and and becomes just another outing on the river

The good part of the evening arrived on its own wings. Earlier on the ride, a viceroy butterfly landed on the bow and rode with us for a good stretch. Smaller than a monarch, and with that extra black line running across the hindwings, it seemed to enjoy the evening ride with us. The butterfly was the reminder that there’s so much good stuff on this stretch of river, and also some bad.