They don't do things in a small way down in the Ozarks. There were more folks than you could count out floating the river that Saturday. Not everybody was in our party, mind you. But, bein' an outsider, I had only the vaguest of notions who was with whom. Not that it mattered much.
Folks are pretty friendly down there, especially as the beer coolers get lighter in the afternoon.
I paddled with my ol' buddy, Ralph. Ralph's son, Gary, paddled with his current love interest, Jody. There were a few other, familiar faces amongst the crowd paddling alongside. Well, paddling is probably too strong a word for what we were doin'. Except for a stroke dropped in here and there to negotiate a bend or avoid a rock, there was very little paddling going on.