The Big River Show

Really? The Gulf?

This is not over. We still need to make it to New Orleans. We are on
day number… 75? It looks like we’re going to make it in 80 days
thanks to all the… and despite all the… During this past week
I’ve been emotionally up and down trying to figure out what the next
step is and what the completion of this project means.

We’ve been told by many people we have met, that this is a “once in a
life time experience.” What does that mean? I think they’re just
trying to help us stay in the moment and not take our experience for
granted. But there is another less defined side of this comment; that
after this experience there will be no more like it. And to be clear,
I’m not wanting to extend this adventure, like across the gulf! To
Cuba! Nothing like that. But I’m wrestling with how many adventures a
lifetime can hold, and what “once” really means.

“once in a lifetime adventure”

One interpretation of that statement is: Of all the adventures out
there, within your lifetime, you only get one.

Another way to see that same phrase is: For each lifetime, each
“adventure” can be endeavored once.

The way I choose to take it: In line with the Buddhist philosophy; you
can never step into the same river twice, let alone spend 3 months on
it. Every adventure is once in a lifetime. Even if I rafted down the
Mississippi river again next summer, it would not be the same. It
would be a different river and I would be a different me.
There… now i feel better.

The New Downtown 5 haikus

Let’s have some coffee.
We’ll meet at the corner shop-
seven miles out of town.

Convenience, it seems,
is not reachable by foot.
You must own a car.

Antique stores lead to
Second hand stores which lead to
Pawn shops on main street.

I miss the small shops.
I miss the conversations.
Death of the downtown.

Just think of the ease,
with all stores under one roof,
just two states away.

There seems to be a percentage- a kind of invisible marker- along the scope of a project that, once crossed, deflates for me the value of completing the thing. There are some people who will not rest until there task is done. They are the types who will finish a book despite having despised it from the first chapter. And there are others who are afraid of getting started on a project at all.

I have neither of these afflictions. Mine is the “4/5ths-is-fine” variety. Around the same time I can visualize the final result I become disinterested in it. While the end is still a mystery, my mind works on the solution to getting there. With each step closer to finishing, I gain new insights about the project. The moment the completed project sits before my minds eye, all I want is to begin working on something new. Novelty. I guess I have high needs for Novelty. It’s easy for me to see why, but it is not so simple to change. This trip has been a great help because- even if i wanted to quit now… where could I go?

Drunken Carpenter is a character on a video series. He is not real. Do not attempt to replicate his actions in any way. You may be seriously hurt or just make a really crappy device. Big River Show and its affiliates take no responsibility for your inebriated craftsmanship.

Since the beginning of this voyage we’ve had plans to outfit our craft with various amenities. Since the beginning we’ve eschewed those plans each day. Sometimes it takes a special set of circumstances to motivate us. Sometimes those circumstances comes down to a state of mind. Sometimes it seems like more of a priority to drive the boat like a chariot, when we’re really drunk. Now, I’m not condoning drinking alcohol or driving a boat like Ben Hur; I’m just saying it’s one of the most fun things we’ve done.

Sometimes even if the subject is not worth your time, the needs to form a well constructed argument and to have your opinion understood are still valid. And more often than not there is some middle ground where two minds can meet. If there were a moderator on board perhaps they would tell us both to just shut up, or perhaps they would help us not galvanize our positions so hastily. But as it was, we ended the day the same way we started.

In other news Bill caught some fish the other day- four of them, blue gills to be precise. We fried them up in butter and lemon. What a treat. I’m glad they don’t live at the bottom of the ocean, because then we could never eat them.