The River

Today I walked to the river again. Its very high, and as I walked down the road to the crossing, I got only half way and no further. It was well out of the banks. It made me think of another time when I was a child and it was this high. There was a man named Clyde Glisson, that had a boat there at that time. He had been setting trot lines and bush hooks. Anyway his boat was there at the edge of the water. He asked my brother and me if we wanted to go for a boat ride. I wasn't too keen on the idea but I went. He didn't go out in the main stream, just a short ride in one of the sloughs. The main stream is very swift and dangerous at high water. There have been several drownings there. A young lady that grew up in our neighborhood ran her automobile into the water at the rocks when the river was high. It stayed high all that year and when the water finally dropped the following year she and her car were found down the river at the crossing. No one suspected her taking her own life everyone thought she just left home. There was another drowning there, a Cowart man. His body was found months later down stream in a willow thicket. There was also a near tragedy years later at high water when a boat sunk and the man and his son hung onto a tree and yelled for help. My brother in law lives between me and the river and he heard him and got his boat and rescued them, and just in time because he said he couldn't have held on much longer. The rocks is very deep because its a sharp curve on the river and the wild rush of high water keeps it that way because of the rock formation there. Sometimes it kind of fills in if the river doesn't get too high. It makes a very nice place to swim during the hot summer months. The river is most always down during the summer, but theres nearly always a deep hole there. Great for diving off the rocks if you know where to dive. Thats where I learned to swim. There have been many fun times there, but some not so fun. Not long ago, two young women and a man was parked on the bank there at the rocks and one girl driving the truck got to close to the edge and it slid in. The man was able to rescue one of the girls but when he went back to get the other one he couldn't find the truck. Apparently it had drifted in the current and he couldn't see it in the dark water. A rescue team came down and pulled the truck out but naturally it was too late for the other girl. But still if you don't rush in too soon and wait until the water drops you can get lots of enjoyment there. I have for many years and also my family.

neon_sapphire