The River

The setting sun cast a dappled honey light on the poplar trees in the field behind our house. The poplar trees get a jump on the oak and hickory and drop their leaves early before the first bite of frost. It's probably so the leaves and seed have first dibbs on the fertile soil. I don't know that for a fact, just an observation. I hope we get some rain before it turns off cold. Dry autumns are less spectacular and are more prone to forest fires.
Each year we try to do a river cruise with our friends Tom and Judy. They have a place on the river and a pontoon boat. Each year they take a bunch of their close friends on the cruise. We take food, wine, our guitars and of course our cameras and make an afternoon of it. From time to time you hear people from other places make fun of Alabama. That's ok with me, but I would be willing to bet my guitar that if that same person had the good fortune to travel with us on our autumn pilgrimage they would come away with a different view of our beautiful state.
It's common to see deer, wild turkey, blue heron, crane's and other water fowl. We take pictures, tell stories, swap jokes, and play songs that everyone knows the words to. But we spend a great deal of time just floating down the river in silence spellbound by the beauty all around us.
The river is different than other bodies of water. At Smith Lake, the price of real estate has driven out many of the smaller cabins and other unique dwellings. But at the river, you can see anything from a camper trailer to multi-million dollar homes with yachts. And on the river, people just seem friendlier. As we drift by on the pontoon, people sitting in the afternoon sun will wave and make river talk.
In a few more weeks, we'll have a better idea of what weekend will be best for our trek. This year, I'll be sure to get some good pictures to share in the blog.