Along Willamette

Around here, water falls in mists, spurts, showers, and droves. In cats and dogs and frog drowners. Rains fill the depths and banks of this river making a home for the fish who swim these waters.
Along the banks, people planted. We built bridges and spilled into the valley. The rains and waters sustain us. We drink the water. We ride the rapids. We fish the eddies. We recreate, and we create.
The uniform we wear is made from waters hauled and pumped and sourced right here. Rings of color are handmade, local, and self-styled. Strapped, dipped, and wrung and hung on the line to be baked dry by the sun.
Reflecting the colors of the stripes that arch above the city when the rains cease, we slip on leather-buckled footwear, head to Kesey Square. We walk Willamette in tie-dye.