At this point we have received no significant rainfall for weeks. I miss the river unbelievably. Don't get me wrong, there are still several rivers that are floatable right now but nothing that has really sounded terribly interesting lately. The James River, Finley River, Gasconade, the list goes on but most of these rivers are quite slow and honestly, a little boring for me. I still greatly enjoy fishing while I float but right now I am hoping to get my white water fix more than anything.
So many different seasons culminate around this time of year and I find it increasingly difficult to manage my time accordingly. This time of year always presents a challenge, albeit one that I will gladly face any time; so much to do, so little time. Dove, deer, turkey, ducks, hiking, fishing, floating(hopefully) all add to the chaos that work, school and family life already push me towards.
I am hoping to get some fall and winter floats in this year as I have never been on the water during this time of year. My good friend, Sam and I have already signed up to do a river cleanup on 10/5/13 on the Finley River in Ozark. Hopefully there will be a fair amount of color on the trees at that point. I have never participated in a river cleanup before and it has been years and years since I was in my canoe last. Hopefully I don't send everyone into the water. While I have not been on a formally organized clean up before I always take a couple mesh bags and plastic bags on floats just to pick up some of the trash that others have left behind.
I hate seeing all the trash that litters so many of our waterways. At the same time I don't get mad about it like a lot of people do. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the canoe tipped and they grabbed all they could. Maybe their kids dumped some stuff, there are a lot of possibilities. As this is the case I try not to assume people load their canoes and kayaks with trash just to dump it on the river. Although sometimes you have to wonder.
I have also contacted the City of Springfield in regards to their Adopt-a-Stream program. There is currently only one stretch of open stream that is available and it is NASTY. It is right on the edge of downtown next to a very busy expressway. Evidently they have had a very difficult time keeping people in this location. I have not checked it out yet but plan to very soon and I will post pictures as well. Hopefully it is something that can be done, but I would prefer to adopt a floatable waterway. I am also concerned with how much additional interest there will be. Obviously it will be too much for just me to handle but I'm hoping some kind-hearted friends can get behind the idea as well
