From "Father Nature" Tom, on my last Middle Fork of the Salmon River trip. His intro was that his sons hated it when he said this to them as they were growing up, but it struck me that it might be a good thing to tuck away for all river guides:
"Tell me what you need, and I"ll show you what you can do without."
And another from the same trip, different person... an engineer named Mike during a conversation about politics (OARS manual page 34: no fraternizing with clients, no discussing politics or religion. We NEVER do that!!):
"Just because you can measure it, don't make it real."
Which reminded me of an old Mark Twain saying:
"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they've been fooled."
To change the subject a bit, I loved this quote pasted on Erica's (a fellow guide's) cup:
"It doesn't take many words to speak the truth." Chief Joseph of the Nez Percè tribe.
And a quote from Amos Burg's awesome biography by Vince Welch: "The Last Voyageur". This is the kind of universal river-feeling that rings very true for me and I'll bet many of my fellow guides:
"What is this thing in me that enables me to leave comforts and a wide variety of entertainments and feel a strange satisfaction wandering down a cheerless and indifferent river, enduring hardships and eating very little and exposed to all sorts of weather. I feel as though I am doing the thing that I have always longed to do and that I can continue to do it forever and like it more all the time. Yes, tonight even as I sit shivering and listening to the patter of the rain, I see myself in many places all over the world wandering like a gull on the winds working with the ideals of Truth and Beauty as part of my vision to bring these things back with me for other people to see" Yukon River, July 1928
And finally, my favorite client quote of all time, retold by John from the Middle Fork of the Salmon;
Day one, first lunch, the guests have all grabbed their grub, guides patiently waiting their turn. As per usual, the guides eventually belly up to the table and start creating their sangwiches At which point a little girl runs up to her father and starts frantically tugging his pants and exclaiming:
"Daddy! Daddy! The HELP are EATING with us!"
I imagine daddy looking sideways and trying to nonchalantly swat his little angel away.
I''ll leave you with this sticker on my camera case, given out by the Coconino County Health department:
Of course, me being me, I've redubbed this unpleasant disease:
"No-Row Virus"
