I love rivers.
I have fond memories of fishing in Montana rivers from the time I was a small boy. I was lucky to have grown up in an area with lots of good trout streams. I have vivid memories of the look, the sound, the feel and the smell of certain places on the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers.
The lower Gallatin was a great place to walk. The Yellowstone is a great river to float on, in certain areas - other parts are quite dangerous. The Madison is a good place to fish. I spent a lot of time sitting beside, walking beside, or in rafts on those rivers.
Bridger creek was a good one, the Stillwater...the East Gallatin - caught over 30 fish on one wade down that small river (catch and release).
Rivers remind me how precious the world is. How precious time is. My father in law loved to fish. He was a preacher's kid and knew something about the bible. He used to quote a scripture about fishing. I think it was Hezekiah 12 - "The time a mans spends fishing will not be held against him in heaven." There is no such verse in the bible but it came in handy for the Sunday's when fishing became more important than going to church.
Rivers are a great metaphor for life. You can't dip your toe in the same river twice as they say. You can let things "flow". Rivers are infinite, they replenish themselves, they reflect the seasons.
I got to know a 97 year old man this year. He was a dear soul. He could recall and talk about certain important things in his life. His family, his job, cows, horses, his speedboat and the time he spent salmon fishing on the Snohomish river. He used to ask me every so often with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, "is the Snohomish still flowing?".
It is indeed.
I miss our visits.
