Liking Lichen
On day two we learn that Roger gets as excited about finding varieties of lichen as he does
over surf-able waves. He points to maidenhair fern fluttering beneath canyon ledges and tilts
his head to the sky when a canyon wren sings. Pretty soon Gabe and Dylan are collecting
moss and beetles in cupped hands for Roger and his biologist wife, Ann, to admire and
identify. This is what a river teaches, I think. There are people in the world who get excited
over lichen.
Not just Roger and Ann, but everyone on this trip, is kind to the boys. “It takes a village,”
Ian, child-free vegetarian and mechanical engineer from San Jose, says as he tosses my son’
s river sandals into the raft. Guests and guides alike are a decidedly generous and
encouraging bunch. They listen patiently to riddles told in a wandering, disorganized fashion.
They tell me what great kids I have. I glow. On the river it is as though we have stumbled
upon some more kid-friendly country like I hear about from friends who visit Ireland or
South America.
On day two we learn that Roger gets as excited about finding varieties of lichen as he does
over surf-able waves. He points to maidenhair fern fluttering beneath canyon ledges and tilts
his head to the sky when a canyon wren sings. Pretty soon Gabe and Dylan are collecting
moss and beetles in cupped hands for Roger and his biologist wife, Ann, to admire and
identify. This is what a river teaches, I think. There are people in the world who get excited
over lichen.
Not just Roger and Ann, but everyone on this trip, is kind to the boys. “It takes a village,”
Ian, child-free vegetarian and mechanical engineer from San Jose, says as he tosses my son’
s river sandals into the raft. Guests and guides alike are a decidedly generous and
encouraging bunch. They listen patiently to riddles told in a wandering, disorganized fashion.
They tell me what great kids I have. I glow. On the river it is as though we have stumbled
upon some more kid-friendly country like I hear about from friends who visit Ireland or
South America.
2