Today our neighbor “Captain Van” volunteered his boat for a tour

He “drove” us up the James River towards Cape Fair

We watched as the spotty traffic rolled across the highway 76 bridge

The No Fishing, No Jumping, No Diving, Narrow Bridge

This is the same bridge we crossed yesterday

In search of photographic treasure

A failed effort for lack of four wheel drive

Today we have propeller drive on a 22 foot pontoon boat

Perhaps the ultimate means of travel along the river

Whose green banks are lined by layer upon layer of

Fossilized limestone deposits each unique to its own geological time

Carved by nature’s water chisels and now impounded

By the Corps of Engineer’s finest efforts

It is our gain today as the water is calm, sparkling and inviting

We pull over at a convenient cove and jump in

Bottom rocks are sharp but it is cool and refreshing

After fun photos we return to the boat and move on

The spoonbill paddlefish are feeding, jumping, splashing

A delicacy I’m told but out of season for now

Blue heron contemplate flight but we are no threat

A few decide otherwise and spread their wings

We arrive at the Virgin Bluffs where it is said an indian maiden

On watch for her tribe below sacrificed herself

As unfriendly warriors cornered her at her post

Leaping to her death off the high cliffs

In the 1990’s the cliff gave way

In a boom that was heard for miles

Along another vertical bank the Captain points out the Mosley place

Where the owner literally tied a lawnmower to a rope

To mow his vertical cliff side vegetation

Classic Ozark adaptation

We watch as a snake slinks along the water and then we double back

The markings are square not diamond non venomous we think

Something to check upon our return

The Captain is animated as we pass a point on the river where

Some misfortunate encountered the power of propane

It seems the home in question exploded a few years back

No injuries reported as the residents were not home

But the beds and the blankets were located in the trees

The appliances were never found….blown into the lake

Due to the close proximity to the lake

They were not allowed to rebuild….new rules

The neighbor’s house a couple of hundred feet away

Was blown a foot off its foundation

We stopped at that same spot to jump in the river again to cool off

Even my 77 year old mother decided it was time

She didn’t have a swimsuit but nobody cared

(No she didn’t skinny dip)

We passed our own home and finally got our photo opportunity

After four years of “residency” we got a view “from the lake”

And we really like it

For the first time in a long time

Since we started this journey

I remember why we started it

It has been the most relaxing day

In a long, long time

Copyright 2009 Patrick A Granfors