Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin – October 10, 2012

“No!” I shouted. “The other way! The other way. Towards Bambi!”

It looked like a shark and I thought I owed those two kids back in Aitkin an apology, then I moved a bit closer. The dorsal and tail fins slipped apart and turned into a doe and fawn halfway across the Mississippi.

They saw me, panicked, and each decided a different bank looked closer. The doe turned, the fawn chugged on, and a half mile of river opened up between them.

I flew forward, yelling at the doe, trying to scare her back the other way, but she wouldn’t turn, not with her chosen bank so close, so I did the only thing I could think of, I paddled like mad to cut her off.

The Looksha makes a poor looking horse and I’m no cowboy, but we did our best to pretend and turned her back to the far shore with a chorus of whoops and hollers. The far bank came under her feet a few minutes later and she splashed out of the water, bounding into the woods.

“To the left,” I shouted after her.

She disappeared in two quick leaps, the last one to the left.