Summer float
Language is a funny thing here in the Ozarks. Nobody uses big words. Or if you do, like me, people raise their eyebrows at you and there’s a good chance you’ll get accused of lookin’ down on everyone else. So it is, so it be.
It ain’t a wallet, it’s your “cabbage roll.” Folks don’t call it “sitting in a creek,” but “creek settin’.” And if you tell your neighbor you’ve got a kayak, they label you “a bit funny” and refer to it as canoeing. If they see us “haulin’ out our funny canoes” to go out on the water, they don’t call it canoeing, they call if “floating.”
But what we’ve got, well, they are kayaks, and for our shallow summer waterways, they’re perfect. You don’t have to work hard to make them go, you rarely have to portage. You float. Hence the term, I suppose.
While Hannah was here, I knew she’d get a kick out of floating the creek because it’d be so easy, so risk-free. Take a boat on most waterways in the PNW and there’s a good chance you’ll be battling currents and rapids, not to mention weather. Even on the warmest days, tipping over into those cold waters isn’t exactly fun, though fans might call it “refreshing.”
But here, it’s more than tempting to dip your toes in the water, or simply beach the boats and wade in. With water this warm and inviting, it’s impossible to resist.
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