As many of you know, in addition to my work here at The Awesomeness Conspiracy, I also write for the online e-magazine The Eco-Theo Review. I’ve started a new regular column there called Benthics, and the first post is live today.

Here’s an excerpt:

The endless dark green ribbon glides by, ruffled gently by the occasional gust of winter as it rushes its way up the river under slate-gray sky, warning of its imminent arrival.

The river pays no heed. Ever onward it marches, ever relentless in its pursuit of the sea. Warmed occasionally as sun breaks through cloud, chilled again by icy breezes leaked from far northern vestiges, the mighty Elk cuts through the ancient mountains as it has for centuries, mindless of age or season, indifferent to anything but its own timeless agenda.

I sit still on the bank, perched on flat sandstone roughly the same size and shape as my hind parts. Watching, waiting. Inhaling cold air, sensing its fresh sting in my nostrils with each breath, feeling the last vestiges of internal warmth from the bloody marys my buddies and I shared streamside as we rigged up.

I speak to the water in river-languages of the mind, and I listen closely for the reply.

An old abandoned railroad bridge spans the river to my right, upstream of my observation post, casting just enough shadow across the deep pool beneath it to cut the glare and create a window into which to view the subaquatic world. I pull my knit cap down tighter over my ears and warm my hands in the fleece pockets of my coat as I stare intently through polarized bifocals, looking for a shadow where there wasn’t one before, a shape moving against the current, hoping for some sign that I am in the right place at the right time.

Patience. Soon, if the stars align and the breeze blows true and the clouds obscure precisely enough but not too much of the warming sun, and the river’s spirit is in just the right mood, the game will be afoot.

You can read the whole article here…