As much as I would’ve liked my first post back at p.net, or,…um pardon me p.com (man that just sounds weird) to be a more positive one, I guess someone had to say it, so it might as well be me to murk the water a bit, since I seem to be destined to be in the muck anyway. (whether I like it or not)
I “found” a body. Although I didn’t realize it when I saw it. As I was paddling down stream, I noticed what looked like a bloated animal carcass deep underneath the water on the edge of the river. Since running across dead animals, are such a common part of being in nature, I really didn’t think anything of it. I just floated right past it, not giving much thought. However, a few miles down stream where I was planning to take out just above a natural rock dam in a wide deep spot, search and rescue was dragging the river. They had divers on site, as well as a dog. They asked if I’d seen, or smelled anything as it had obviously been a while since the incident had occurred. Of course I told them what I’d noticed. They told me the story of how this guy was being chased by the State Police, stopped his car on the bridge and bailed into the river. Since the water was high, fast flowing, and since the guy had bailed into the middle of the river, they said they had figured he’d be farther down stream from the bridge, and later said they thought he had lived long enough to swim to shore, then drowned. They asked if I could show them where I saw what they now suspected could be the body of the man they were looking for, and so I went with them several miles, with the dog, and divers back upstream to locate the body.
There was a part of me hoping that I was wrong, and that the guy had somehow survived the jump, “maybe that’s why the dog wasn’t detecting any scent I told myself.” However, at the same time I was also hoping that I wasn’t wasting the valuable time, and resources being spent downstream on what could be just as I originally thought, a dead animal. Unfortunately, it was the man’s body.
If I appear cold in any way about it all, understand that it has been about 20 years or so, and after spending a great deal of time in war torn countries I’ve developed a different view of life/death. As humans we tend to forget that just as animals, we are also a part of that cycle of nature. I’ve had no choice but to see, get past, and accept that. With experience, comes wisdom, thus acceptance. There are at least a couple of others here who I know for certain understand those feelings quite well. Hopefully, you all continue to find things that can be made light of.