Running the Payette

Running the Payette

     on an afternoon in June.

Confined within our raft,

     helmets and vests secure.

Water foaming white

     above the shoals.

Working together

     and sometimes not!

We struggle through the rapids

     and glide along the pools.

A guide to help us steer

     between the breaks.

Always on the lookout

     for the strainers and the rocks.

We paddle hard

     to maintain our course.

We hardly notice

     the shores on either side.

Or the beauty all around us!

Moving much too fast,

     trading risks for thrills.

For it is not the destination

     that counts.

We all get there 

     by and by:

To the flatwater!

It is the ride we make,

     the obstacles we avoid,

The danger we dared,

     and the teamwork.

The shared sense

     of experience,

And the relief when

     it is all over.

Come to think of it,

Life is like running the Payette

     on an afternoon in June.