underneath a sky that's ever falling down

To tame the wild water -- that had been his dream since childhood. He had been a city boy, but evenings in front of the TV watching National Geographic specials about white-water rafting had shaped the desire of his soul.

So, as a young man, he set out on the great rivers of the West in his kayak, capturing wild water, bringing it back to his ranch in Wyoming, and there -- taming it. To support himself, he took his trained waters on tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus, where he was made to perform in a side ring, while the lion tamer held the center and acrobats swayed overhead. He thought bitterly that they were fools, the circus management and the audience, fools not to recognize his achievement in forcing the raw power of rushing rivers to his will. The driving force of floods, the sheer violence that could slice channels through living rock and wear down mountains, was his to command, but the public cared more for the antics of some overgrown cats.

Though he never reached the fame he felt he deserved, he performed with the circus for many years, putting his tamed waters through their paces. They jumped and danced and eroded hoops, their whitecaps proud under the spotlights of the Big Tent.

It paid the bills for his ranch. And every off-season, there was another river, waiting for his discipline and love.

As he aged, he slowed down. He was progressively less able to keep up with the wild young rivers that had been his passion, and eventually had to give up on taming new waters. He was able to keep up his circus act for a while with his old companions, but they, too, were slowing down, torrents and rapids turning to gentle meanders.

They grew old, he and his water, and slow; but not feeble. After he retired from the circus, he moved to the Midwest, where he and his faithful streams spend their leisure changing the course of the Mississippi. Today, he enjoys moving and forming islands, and gets a special pleasure from causing border disputes between states. He just keeps rolling along.