WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 3 - DAY 50

KHUN CHUCK HAS HAD AN INTERESTING MOMENT . WHILE AFTERNOON NAPPING THE RAFT WAS FUNNELLED INTO AN IRRIGATION DITCH . THIS IN ITSELF WAS NO CAUSE FOR ALARM BUT WHILE HE ENJOYED THE NEW PASTORAL SURROUNDINGS THERE WAS THIS NOT GOOD SOUND, LIKE A RUSHING SOUND . TURNING AROUND HE SAW NOT FAR AHEAD WHAT LOOKED LIKE ONE OF THOSE COWCATCHERS ON AN OLD LOCOMOTIVE . IT WAS THROWING UP A LOT OF WHITE WATER AND SUDDENLY THE AFTERNOON FELT QUITE DIFFERENT . THIS STEEL SCREEN IN FRONT OF A CULVERT OPENING WAS NOT A FRIEND TO THE RAFT.

KHUN CHUCK IS ROWING HARD IN FULL REVERSE AND FOR AWHILE WAS GAINING ABOUT A FOOT PER STROKE , BUT AFTER 20 MINUTES OR SO HE WAS IN NEGATIVE TERRITORY AND SLOWLY CREEPING BACKWARDS INTO A BLENDER . AND THEN ... AT LIKE A REALLY GOOD TIME THERE IS A PICKUP TRUCK WORKING IT'S WAY ALONG THE ACCESS ROAD NEXT WHAT NOW FEELS LIKE VERY FAST MOVING WATER .

THE TRUCK STOPPED AND TWO SHORT , BROAD SHOULDERED MEN GOT OUT AND MOVED LIKE THIS WAS A CHOREOGRAPHED EVENT . THEY WORE BLACK FEDORAS PULLED LOW OVER THEIR EYES AND WENT ABOUT THIS RAFT IN DISTRESS BUSINESS LIKE THEY HAD DONE IT DOZENS OF TIMES . THEY TOSSED KHUN CHUCK A LINE WHICH HE TIED AROUND HIS CHEST , THEN FASTENED THE TAIL TO THE RAFT . THE INSTANT THE KNOT CAME TIGHT AN ENGINE GUNNED . HE LURCHED INTO THE WATER AND WAS DRAGGED SPIRALLING UP THE STEEP BANK, THE RAFT FOLLOWING CLOSELY BEHIND .

IT HURT A LITTLE BUT IT WAS OVER FAST . AS HE LAY IN THE ROAD AIRBRUSHED WITH A FINE RED DUST THE TWO RETRIEVED THEIR LINE AND WERE GONE WITHOUT A WORD. KHUN CHUCK TOOK AWHILE TO STAND UP AND GET MOVING BUT EVENTUALLY HE DID . HE DRAGGED THE RAFT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CULVERT AND HEADED OFF AGAIN, IN A COUPLE MILES THE DITCH REJOINED THE RIVER AND HE MOVES WITH THE LARGER FLOW AGAIN, INTACT AND HAPPY.

WHICH IS TO SAY THAT AT THE CLINIC IT GOT A LITTLE BUMPY. I HAD A RECURRING INFECTION IN MY HICKMAN LINE THAT LEFT ME INCARCERATED AT UW HOSPITAL FOR TWO DAYS UNTIL THEY HAD SOUNDLY WHUPPED IT . WE ARE DRIVING OUT OF THAT EVENT NOW AND I FEEL MUCH BETTER THAN I DID THREE DAYS AGO.

ON A FINAL NOTE , TODAY IS DAY 50 , WE ARE INDEED AT THE HALFWAY MARK .

I'M ROLLING ON THE RIVER , KHUN CHUCK