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Show THE ZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2003-JANUARY 2004 families to picnic tables and fire pits and fishermen to river holes; most stay only a day and evening, the families forgetting the things back home, soaking in all the warm greens of an afternoon, waiting to build their ceremonial cook fires, while the fishermen will work some path along the river, pausing for a trout to rise, and during that day or evening (or in two days or more) a person will go off alone, just to look out over the water or to find some place more removed, and he will listen as the wind slices through the grass and pushes against the cottonwoods and shrub oak, and then, as if drawn away by that same wind, he will breathe out memory and past and take in a cold river, a solitary field of wispy grass, a hundred shades of green speckled over a steep slope, a person, which is himself, now standing on the edge of the river with arms extended like wings, bare arms, waiting for the first good breeze to carry him invisible through the valley and it lasts only an.instant before the old, overpowering smells of plants and earth come back, bringing again the old unsettled sense of loss, and with either a shift or passing of wind or even a momentary change in light the thing is broken and the person moves on, back to camp for a little dinner or to the next good pool where trout may feed, and as the river and country ease into autumn the people begin to leave, returning to whatever life had been left behind, and for some there was this feeling of having left too soon, that too much had been missed, but, they reminded themselves, there would always be a next time and with that came the hope of staying a little longer and perhaps then there would be a chance of seeing something else and something more, and for others there was the assurance of home and job and perhaps later, a few pictures to remind them of the river, of what a fine trip it had been, and with that came the anticipation of some place new the next year; and in the absence of people, the country and river begin their retreat into another rhythm, shedding the colors of summer while bracing for winter, with shortened days and cerulean skies and mounting storms that spread over the country like great shadows until they finally drip down the canyon walls to the river, and below Bradfield the river meanders with even less urgency, absorbing again the old patina, the same golden red and yellow color of oaks and cottonwoods that grow near shore and up the side canyons, and in this late season a particular silence comes to the country, a certain pause between familiar sounds—ripples over gravel, bending limbs, and rain against dry leaves, and it can be heard in the daring flight of swallows, where even in the autumnal season you can see hundreds of them spiraling out of the canyon, frantic and pervasive, part of nothing but the river and the country around it KELLY STELTER (H) 259-2339 (CELL) 260.8011 BUS: 259-5693 xt:NS or (800) 634-0770 FAX: 259-5930 kelly@moabproperties.com KELLY' Q XM AS Wi QH "l just want to sell a home to Santa's niece." ARCH ES REALTY 150 E. Center St. P.O. Moab, UT 84532 t SHOULD : WE BRING BACK LAME ALIEN SWIMSUIT This story first appeared in the Chatahoochie Review. Damon Falke lives in THE ISSUE IN 2005 Let us know... Port Arthur, Texas. RIVERSIDE —=at =p ey =a 366 N. 500 PLUMBING S& HEATING =. uda250-8924 ow SS a. ABOUT 15 YEARS TOO MANY, I'D SAY! A Lunch | Dinner aM ce) ONE re Cane Tee a ear Te E. on 400 S. Mee et me Rue % A : : , S ante \ Vi. =~ Hy) i, SO SANTA...HOW hs < (0) “\S\ MANY YEARS “HAVE WE BEEN DOING THIS? 4 ORDER TOO-FREE — 800.748.4887 or ON-LINE oO coffee@roasting.com Ai/Zam ry iJ A) oy } : Residential - Commercial - Sales Installation - Drain Cleaning septic: COMPLETE LINE OF PLUMBING FIXTURES "Buy Coffee NOW...or forever hold your beans" 320 East 400 South in Downtown Salt Lake City | HOT WATER eee PAGES 4 Kohler- Grohe - Mansfield eee ee ne eas |