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There must have been some kind of
accident upstream. Situated downstream, of course it was impossible to know.
But, as it happened, one early spring day in the great forest, Ralph and Twigg were on the river bank giving serious consideration to catching some fish. A fisher, or some such arboreal mustelid strolled by. He was thinking about fish also. Ralph thought he probably had cubs at home. It was that time of year.
The nosy wind still blew pretty chilly. Uphill there was a lot of snow on the ground. The usual insects who do their dances over the water had not made their appearances. Things were starting to bud out. Little bulbs of life appeared on the tips of twigs in a variety of colors. Some red, some brown, some green. Grasses and clovers were beginning to awaken and grow.
In spots of sunlight, if a person could find one, it felt warm. But get into a shadow and feel the breeze and the warmth quickly vanished. You or I would say that it was pretty cold to be out by the river thinking about jumping in!
Twigg had a burlap bag, curtesy of Thaga, to put the unlucky trout in. He would stay on the rocks, waiting for Ralph to catch the fishes.
Ralph was knee deep in the water, when a strange thing happened. A Moravia raft came drifting downstream with not a single soul onboard it. It was floating high and light in the water and got into the draw of that mysterious whirlpool along the river. Round and round it went, as if beckoning.
“Twigg,” said Ralph, “I have an idea.”
“I do too,” said Twigg, ready for anything Ralph thought up, as usual.
“Let’s get in and see what happens!” said the adventurous papa.
Ralph went out into the whirlpool and snagged the Moravia raft, pulling it to shore. Twigg climbed in. Ralph shoved it out a little and rolled into it himself.
They sailed around and around for a few minutes just getting used to being in a floating vessel and enjoying the moments. Ralph was still thinking about fish, and Twigg still held the bag. Ralph began to think of song for calling fish. He hadn’t tried that before. Usually he just went down underwater and grabbed them old school style.
True, there had been that whole episode with Uncle Bob’s portable portal, but Uncle Bob was busy setting up house keeping in his stump and they just hadn’t gotten the portal out and tried it again. There is, after all, such a thing as too much of a good thing, and the volume of fish arrival was hard to control.
Ralph began to sing. Twigg watched with shining eyes, humming along, to learn the song. The song didn’t have words, because fish don’t have words. It was elemental. It was urgent. It curled. It called on a wavelength trout find impossible to disobey. Soon a nice 12 inch trout leapt over the side of the raft. Twigg grabbed it and put it in the bag, where it flopped around making the bag jump.
As long as Ralph kept singing, a couple of fish would leap into the Moravia every few minutes. Then Twigg would capture them, until the bag was getting to be full enough for a day’s meals in the Home Clearing. Ramona would think of something good to do with them. She always did. Sometimes it was soup with herbs. Sometimes she just fried them. Thaga showed her how to pickle them too!
But back to the river and Ralph and Twigg.
“We should go for a ride, Twigg,” said Ralph. “Are you afraid to?”
“No, I’m not afraid. I can swim if I need to,” said Twigg.
So, Ralph grabbed the one remaining paddle, the others must have gotten lost during the occurrence upstream, and he shoved the inflatable raft out into the main stream by pushing off of the bottom.
The river was full of spring runoff, so it was a little higher and swifter than usual. So, Ralph and Twigg presented quite a spectacle floating along in the big yellow raft. It would have been a spectacle if anyone noticed them. Mostly no one did, because people are not usually out in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest during the cold parts of the year.
However, a young family without much money, but having three children, decided to visit the forest for an outing for their children. They brought a picnic of sandwiches, coffee, cookies and chips and milk for the kids. The mother, Elaine, was setting up the park table, which over looked the river. The father, young Ted, had gone to the car to bring everything out to the table. Two older kids were running around making more noise than was allowed in the house at home. The littlest girl, Sally, five, was sitting on the bench attached to the picnic table but facing the river when Ralph and Twigg passed before her eyes.
“Mommy, I saw bears in a boat,” said Sally, conversationally, kicking her feet under the bench.
“That’s pretty neat,” said Elaine, not worried a bit. She was of the opinion that kids say random stuff sometimes and that there wasn’t any point in trying to figure them out. Their picnic went well and it felt good to get out into the forest for a few hours.
Further down the river, Ralph decided that he and Twigg had gone far enough. He paddled the raft over to his own side of the river, and hopped over the side into the water. Twigg hopped out also with his sack of fish, and Ralph pulled the raft way up onto dry land, hoping that if the owners came hunting for it they would find it. He knew that if he left it in the river it would go clear to Puget Sound and maybe all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
“We better take those fish to Mommy, Twigg,” said Ralph.
“OK,” said Twigg, hefting the sack onto his shoulder ready to go.
“That was fun. I hope they find their boat,” said Ralph.
It was pretty far to walk with a dripping sack of trout, so they went home by one of those mysterious shortcuts Ralph uses. They got home in fine form sometime midmorning.
Everybody was there to greet them. Ramona had been teaching songs to Cherry, who could remember anything perfectly. Bob and Berry woke up from their morning naps and came to inspect the bag with its enticing contents and to bunt Twigg from both sides just for fun.
Even Maeve was there, spouting Raven philosophy and good advice to anyone who would listen.
“Thanks, Baby,” said Ramona to Ralph. “You are a great fisher!”
“Of course, Mona!” said Ralph, and he smiled at it all, because it was so wonderful.
But, as it happened, one early spring day in the great forest, Ralph and Twigg were on the river bank giving serious consideration to catching some fish. A fisher, or some such arboreal mustelid strolled by. He was thinking about fish also. Ralph thought he probably had cubs at home. It was that time of year.
The nosy wind still blew pretty chilly. Uphill there was a lot of snow on the ground. The usual insects who do their dances over the water had not made their appearances. Things were starting to bud out. Little bulbs of life appeared on the tips of twigs in a variety of colors. Some red, some brown, some green. Grasses and clovers were beginning to awaken and grow.
In spots of sunlight, if a person could find one, it felt warm. But get into a shadow and feel the breeze and the warmth quickly vanished. You or I would say that it was pretty cold to be out by the river thinking about jumping in!
Twigg had a burlap bag, curtesy of Thaga, to put the unlucky trout in. He would stay on the rocks, waiting for Ralph to catch the fishes.
Ralph was knee deep in the water, when a strange thing happened. A Moravia raft came drifting downstream with not a single soul onboard it. It was floating high and light in the water and got into the draw of that mysterious whirlpool along the river. Round and round it went, as if beckoning.
“Twigg,” said Ralph, “I have an idea.”
“I do too,” said Twigg, ready for anything Ralph thought up, as usual.
“Let’s get in and see what happens!” said the adventurous papa.
Ralph went out into the whirlpool and snagged the Moravia raft, pulling it to shore. Twigg climbed in. Ralph shoved it out a little and rolled into it himself.
They sailed around and around for a few minutes just getting used to being in a floating vessel and enjoying the moments. Ralph was still thinking about fish, and Twigg still held the bag. Ralph began to think of song for calling fish. He hadn’t tried that before. Usually he just went down underwater and grabbed them old school style.
True, there had been that whole episode with Uncle Bob’s portable portal, but Uncle Bob was busy setting up house keeping in his stump and they just hadn’t gotten the portal out and tried it again. There is, after all, such a thing as too much of a good thing, and the volume of fish arrival was hard to control.
Ralph began to sing. Twigg watched with shining eyes, humming along, to learn the song. The song didn’t have words, because fish don’t have words. It was elemental. It was urgent. It curled. It called on a wavelength trout find impossible to disobey. Soon a nice 12 inch trout leapt over the side of the raft. Twigg grabbed it and put it in the bag, where it flopped around making the bag jump.
As long as Ralph kept singing, a couple of fish would leap into the Moravia every few minutes. Then Twigg would capture them, until the bag was getting to be full enough for a day’s meals in the Home Clearing. Ramona would think of something good to do with them. She always did. Sometimes it was soup with herbs. Sometimes she just fried them. Thaga showed her how to pickle them too!
But back to the river and Ralph and Twigg.
“We should go for a ride, Twigg,” said Ralph. “Are you afraid to?”
“No, I’m not afraid. I can swim if I need to,” said Twigg.
So, Ralph grabbed the one remaining paddle, the others must have gotten lost during the occurrence upstream, and he shoved the inflatable raft out into the main stream by pushing off of the bottom.
The river was full of spring runoff, so it was a little higher and swifter than usual. So, Ralph and Twigg presented quite a spectacle floating along in the big yellow raft. It would have been a spectacle if anyone noticed them. Mostly no one did, because people are not usually out in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest during the cold parts of the year.
However, a young family without much money, but having three children, decided to visit the forest for an outing for their children. They brought a picnic of sandwiches, coffee, cookies and chips and milk for the kids. The mother, Elaine, was setting up the park table, which over looked the river. The father, young Ted, had gone to the car to bring everything out to the table. Two older kids were running around making more noise than was allowed in the house at home. The littlest girl, Sally, five, was sitting on the bench attached to the picnic table but facing the river when Ralph and Twigg passed before her eyes.
“Mommy, I saw bears in a boat,” said Sally, conversationally, kicking her feet under the bench.
“That’s pretty neat,” said Elaine, not worried a bit. She was of the opinion that kids say random stuff sometimes and that there wasn’t any point in trying to figure them out. Their picnic went well and it felt good to get out into the forest for a few hours.
Further down the river, Ralph decided that he and Twigg had gone far enough. He paddled the raft over to his own side of the river, and hopped over the side into the water. Twigg hopped out also with his sack of fish, and Ralph pulled the raft way up onto dry land, hoping that if the owners came hunting for it they would find it. He knew that if he left it in the river it would go clear to Puget Sound and maybe all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
“We better take those fish to Mommy, Twigg,” said Ralph.
“OK,” said Twigg, hefting the sack onto his shoulder ready to go.
“That was fun. I hope they find their boat,” said Ralph.
It was pretty far to walk with a dripping sack of trout, so they went home by one of those mysterious shortcuts Ralph uses. They got home in fine form sometime midmorning.
Everybody was there to greet them. Ramona had been teaching songs to Cherry, who could remember anything perfectly. Bob and Berry woke up from their morning naps and came to inspect the bag with its enticing contents and to bunt Twigg from both sides just for fun.
Even Maeve was there, spouting Raven philosophy and good advice to anyone who would listen.
“Thanks, Baby,” said Ramona to Ralph. “You are a great fisher!”
“Of course, Mona!” said Ralph, and he smiled at it all, because it was so wonderful.
Moravia is a company in Boise that makes inflatable rivercraft.
🌊🌊🌊
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