Confluence
For Dian & Judy

On the ride north we reminisce about family ties & kids on trial & growing up estranged & how discovery can set us free & 
where three rivers converge there’s the constant & submissive sea to welcome & absorb the sludge & sap of continents &
where the monument to Lewis & Clark celebrates challenge & risk we’re encouraged to contemplate transcendence & what it takes
to map mountains & lakes from the bow of a birchbark canoe & how the yowl of a hungry Grisly pawing the air in spring might churn the blood &
how some men assume futility but insist on going on & when the time is right accept the Salmon’s challenge & swim upstream to spawn & die.

Astoria, Oregon – November 29, 2002