The Mighty Missouri

"I should like to have many houses beside many rivers, except that a man can only live in one house at a time. If he had many houses by many rivers, he would always be regretting the houses left empty and the rivers unwatched. -Roderick Haig-Brown

All of us have places that we leave behind, whether it be in our hearts or in our minds. I left behind many rivers, lakes, and creeks that I fell in love with in my youth. I learned to fish, and what fishing is: good days and bad days, some forgettable, and some can never be forgotten. Like women, sometimes we get lonesome and forget all the bad things about them, and pretty soon we have a romanticized princess in our minds. One visit can reminds us that it's far from the truth, and pretty soon we learn to keep the romanticized version alive indefinitely. Its much better than the alternative.

There is always a reason we leave, and a reason we stay. I don't know why people drift around from place to place, for me it was usually work or women. I was looking for a place that fit me, and not the contrary. Some places don't last long, some become a legend, and some become home.

I have chosen to make Montana my home, close to the Missouri River. If you have ever been here you probably know why. Like a lot of others I am not from here, because we have no choice where or to whom we are born, but we do have some control over where we end up. I have split a few lips to close mouths over this issue.

I was shaped by other rivers, but none so powerful as the Missouri. I think about the other ones from time to time, longing to fish perfect conditions. Like those princesses from the past, memories of the good times roll through my mind. The truth is, sometimes we have to pick one place to make our home. Even those with the means to have more than one house, on more than one river, can only have one "home."