The mighty Clearwater

The riverbanks were a great source of entertainment for us. And sometimes a great source of danger.

On one occasion, I took my sister Carrie exploring during the spring flood. The river was very deep and very fast at this time of year. All of our familiar fun-spots were deep under water. There was a sort of flat rocky area upon which we could walk to look at many of those fun-spots. The river was racing down this flat area as I worked hard to keep my balance and help my sister, too. New shoes were a rarity so I tried to carry them above the water along with doing the balance thing. As would be expected, I dropped her shoes into some very deep water. I remember from seeing them during many attempts to reach them with a stick that they were light colored sandals with a buckle.

Now, I had to go tell Dad what had happened. It never occurred to me that I had been doing anything dangerous so I was only worried about the dropped shoes. He was not too upset about them and we went down to the river to get them. The closer we got to the river the more troubled he became. When I showed him where they were he kind of "went ballistic" and I got a good lecture about not playing in the river.

The shoes were completely repairable. Dad was used to caring for outdoor clothing so this was an easy task.