river miles

"nature without an effort surpasses art." -- latin proverb
paddling from davenport to muscatine on the mississippi yesterday i met a man paddling a canoe who came from rockford, illinois on the rock river. he was making about 30 miles/day in a plastic rec boat with a "bicycle bugger" tucked in behind him to carry his gear. he had a sign on board that invoked the words peace and God and he told me he was out of money until his disability check arrived on wednesday. he declined my assistance and said he was losing weight on ramen noodles and oatmeal so much lighter than his original 285#. i figure that by louisiana he should be down to playing weight. he doesn't like "gators" or snakes so doubt if he'll get much past arkansas. i felt like huck finn as i paddled down "the mighty" on a beautiful day.