The Grand Rapids Article, reprised

The way this Blogger shit works, it makes telling a story kind of difficult. The whole thing comes out ass-backwards. I printed it out the other day for the bathroom reading ease of a friend who doesn't compute, and jeezus. It took forever to unbuild the backwards time progression of the blog into the correct chronology in a Word document. And that was done in Bisbee's Copper Queen Library, not on my laptop, which means I gotta do it all over again cuz I couldn't save it. Incidentally, I donated a copy of "Dead Men Hike No Trails" to this, our local library, so that nickel-poor friends like me could read it. Five months later, they have yet to catalogue it and get it on the shelf. Now, whazzup with that? Shit.

[Postscript 11-16-06: The lovely librarians at the Copper Queen, hard-working and undoubtedly underpaid for their efforts, made a special effort to get my book on the shelf when I brought it to their attention. I apologize for my above rudely-stated impatience. I sometimes forget that anyone reads this shit, and I go mouthing off.]

Anyway, point is, I went looking for the Grand Rapids Herald-Review article by Marie Nitke that day at the library and all I could find of it was a reprint in some online mag called Paddler's News or some such thing. Well, I found it today over a beer, here in the newly-Wifi'd saloon at Bisbee's cool old haunted hotel, The Copper Queen. The article appears at the beginning of this backwards-blogged story, thanks to my friend Mary, under "August," but you may not stumble upon it if yer half as web dumb as I. So here it is again, cut and pasted but also linked, should you wish to go print it out from the original source (something I like to do, makes it more official-lookin'!). "Dreamcatchers paddle through town"

'Dreamcatchers' paddle through town
Marie Nitke
Herald-Review
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 06th, 2006 12:19:05 PM

A line taken from the lyrics of the hit song, "Proud Mary," which was written by John Fogerty about life on a Mississippi riverboat around the turn of the 20th Century, states: "People on the river are happy to give." According to some canoeists who recently paddled through Grand Rapids, those words still ring true today.

The canoeists were Rick McKinney and Frank Grandau -- modern-day adventurers on a "Dreamcatcher Expedition" down the Mississippi River. They began their journey about one week ago from Lake Bemidji, and hope to make it to New Orleans by the end of October, collecting the dreams and wishes of river people along the way.

"This journey is all about hope and connections between people," said McKinney during an interview Tuesday. "We want to meet people as we go, and collect their dreams. I'm asking people what their life-long dream is, or what their wish would be if they were granted one."

These dreams and wishes are then written down on small pieces of paper, which McKinney plans to put together into a sealed and corked glass bottle. Like classic "messages in a bottle," the dreams will be sent out to sea at the end of McKinney and Grandau's expedition.

"This trip," said McKinney, "is a mission of hope."

In the last week, McKinney and Grandau have already collected about two dozen dreams, including a few written down during casual conversations and interviews the men had while dining at the Forest Lake restaurant on Monday night.
"We talked to the bartender, and some others," said McKinney.

Most of the "dreamers' the men meet either live or work on the river. Grandau, who McKinney describes as "gregarious and bolder than I am," paddles over to almost anyone he sees to meet them and spark up conversations. McKinney, meanwhile, talks to people directly about their dreams and the purpose of this expedition.

According to McKinney, Grandau is the logical, practical goal-setter, while he is more the artistic, creative type.
"He's the pragmatist and I'm the dreamer," said McKinney. "We make an interesting team. We balance each other out."
The friends met only two years ago, when each was on a solo hike along the Appalachian Trail in 2004. McKinney was hiking to soothe his soul from the loss of a friend to suicide, while Grandau had recently retired from 26 years of service in the Navy - most recently as a Captain - and completing the hike was one of his personal goals.

Although both men were complete hiking amateurs when they met on the Appalachian Trail, they enjoyed the physical and mental challenges of their feat. That's what made them decide, two years later, to embark on this latest journey, to which they are also amateurs.

"We're hurting," admitted McKinney. "Neither of us had done any real training, and, boy, do my shoulders hurt. But we've got a long way to go. They say it takes about one million paddle strokes to get from one end of the Mississippi to the other."
Sore muscles aside, however, McKinney said he and Grandau have been enjoying their trip so far -- and have especially appreciated the kindness of strangers they have met along the way.

For example, when the two pulled their canoe over to the shore of "Pinky" Jetland's home Monday night, McKinney said, they were pleased to be welcomed with unexpected kindness. Seeking nothing more than a place to lay their canoe while they stayed in a motel in town, the men were bowled over by Jetland's good graces. According to McKinney, Jetland offered to haul the men's canoe and equipment to Steamboat Park for them on his trailer, saving McKinney and Grandau a long walk around the dam.
"He was great," said McKinney. "People have been really, really friendly. It's been really nice to meet such friendly people along the river."

"The lyrics that go, 'people on the river are happy to give' are true," said Grandau. "People need to know that."
Those interested in McKinney and Grandau's travels can follow along at www.jigglebox.com/ dreamcatcherexpedition.