No-The "mighty" Mississippi @ Savannah,Illinois.Rivers have always held special facination for me.From my earliest memories I've been playing or working around water.The Ohio,living on her backwaters up Mud Lick creek@ Big Bone,Kentucky;swamped pick-up truck, Denises Mustang,under the ice,Fifteen degrees below zero.The Columbia lumbering along,The Snake,nearly Army Corped to death to keep Her channel @ twelve feet

malaria

I started those malaria pills yesterday-the side affects well know by now-no nightmares but decided irritability today delivered to my lovely lifes partner,my Mary,so what else is new? Reality came back quickly after an outing with Mary and my daughter Lily rowing around the backwaters of the Mississippi.After rowing against the wind for an hour we drifted back in.Upon pulling the boat out of the water I slipped in the sand and dropped the boat on my knee-karma comes in many forms.......................

A shot of courage?

Another place and time.Viet nam. The destination."This is going to be so cool" Claims my traveling companion,Rupert, exclaims after hearing my decision to go with him.Forty years ago I remember that same voice more youthful,steady, at The Naval Hospital,Great Lakes,Illinois where we met working as hospital corpsmen-5-north psychiatric unit(closed ward). I was trained @ The US Naval Hospital,Philadelphia,Pa in the specialty for Neuro-psychiatric technician;Rupert fresh out of Hospital Corps School,still calling everybody "sir".