About 25 years ago, I had the chance to canoe down the Arkansas River with friends and family members. We put in our canoes near the spot where I took the photos yesterday and floated all the way downstream to a point about 3 miles north of my hometown, Haven.
It was a nice October day, kind of an "Indian Summer" day, if I recall. I don't even remember how long it took but probably the journey was over WAY too soon. It's always that way with things we ENJOY doing--pretty sure that I have never once said, "Wow, can't believe how fast I pulled those weeds!"
It was a pleasurable experience and even though I was a "novice" at canoeing, my companions were good sports and taught me what to do as well as what NOT to do. After the trip was over and we loaded up and headed back to Hutchinson, I vowed that some day I would really like to try doing it again. As you can see by the pictures, that "some day" is going to have to wait a while.
Looking towards the east from the Frank Hart Crossing Bridge, between Hutchinson and South Hutchinson, it is easy to see that we are as dry as I've seen it in recent years. This portion of water is as deep as it gets around this point. People were still having fun in it though as the ultra-shallow depth of water was easy to splash and wade around in.
About the only way to describe this photo is "stark". Not sure that in my remembrances that I had ever seen the numbers that were below the 10 foot mark. I cross this bridge at least once a day as I'm driving around town. But only when I stopped and got out to take the photo, did the seriousness of the dry conditions around here become "real.
Although my desire is for more water in order to canoe once again, many others out there are praying for more moisture in order to ensure their survival. Crops and livestock are depending on it, desperate for its arrival. Firefighters need all the help they can get to gain the "upperhand" in their seemingly constant battle against wildfires this year. And yet, I and many others, continue to use water in ways that would make one think the supply is endless.
So for now, "to canoe down the Ark River once again", is still a desire and keeps its place on the Miller Bucket List. I still have the faith and the hope that one day the needed rain will come for all of us.
"All the water that will ever be, is right now." (from National Geographic 1993)
"When the well's dry, then we know the worth of the water." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac 1746
Although my desire is for more water in order to canoe once again, many others out there are praying for more moisture in order to ensure their survival. Crops and livestock are depending on it, desperate for its arrival. Firefighters need all the help they can get to gain the "upperhand" in their seemingly constant battle against wildfires this year. And yet, I and many others, continue to use water in ways that would make one think the supply is endless.
So for now, "to canoe down the Ark River once again", is still a desire and keeps its place on the Miller Bucket List. I still have the faith and the hope that one day the needed rain will come for all of us.
"All the water that will ever be, is right now." (from National Geographic 1993)
"When the well's dry, then we know the worth of the water." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac 1746
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