Elk Rock Island is a magical core of an ancient volcano 5 minutes from our house. In the summer, the river drops and you can walk across dry land to the island. But in winter, the river rises and Elk Rock Island becomes a tantalizing and inaccessible river island complete with bald eagles and old foundations from buildings of a bygone era. In short, it begs the adventurous to find a way across the moat.
Espen and I knew the water would be high when we visited. We were prepared to gaze longingly at the elusive island and sail pieces of bark towards it. Well, I was. Espen kept trying to haul logs to the shore to make "bridges". We did not however, anticipate the arrival of two grown men bent on constructing a raft to float across on.
Granted they were young men, but clearly adults, who busied themselves gathering sticks of wood and lumber that had washed ashore on the winter tides. Espen saw them abandon the sticks as too short and swooped down to annex them for his bridge building.
However.
However.
When Espen saw them hauling tires filled with Styrofoam to the shore, any trace of shyness or interest in building his own project evaporated and he sidled closer for a look.
"Hey," he said casually, aiming for his best grown up voice.
They looked up and saw the little man hovering by their pile of scavenged goods. One of them smiled and stepped closer to Espen.
"Hey," he said back.
"Whatcha buildin' there?" Espen questioned, hoping beyond hope that they would say a device that would carry him to the island.
The young man crouched down. Looked at Espen earnestly.
"We're building a raft. That guy there is an engineer."
Espen stepped closer.
"I can help you find boards and stuff. That will float."
The guy smiled again and the engineer looked up from arranging his tires. Sized up Espen.
"That would be great!" they said and Espen was off and running.
We salvaged lumber and boards, hell we even found a length of rope that Espen trotted back very proudly.
"You can TIE THEM TOGETHER NOW!!"
The engineer looked excited. The other guy bent down to Espen.
"Do you think we can make it, little man?"
Espen nodded furiously, his dreams coming to life before his very eyes.
The engineer now began to drill holes in the Styrofoam with a stick so he could loop the rope through and lash the tires together. Other guy, Espen and I started chatting.
It turned out that he was an airline pilot out with his good pal the engineer for an afternoon adventure.
He asked Espen's name, which the Bear happily explained meant Bear of the Gods."Hey," he said casually, aiming for his best grown up voice.
They looked up and saw the little man hovering by their pile of scavenged goods. One of them smiled and stepped closer to Espen.
"Hey," he said back.
"Whatcha buildin' there?" Espen questioned, hoping beyond hope that they would say a device that would carry him to the island.
The young man crouched down. Looked at Espen earnestly.
"We're building a raft. That guy there is an engineer."
Espen stepped closer.
"I can help you find boards and stuff. That will float."
The guy smiled again and the engineer looked up from arranging his tires. Sized up Espen.
"That would be great!" they said and Espen was off and running.
We salvaged lumber and boards, hell we even found a length of rope that Espen trotted back very proudly.
"You can TIE THEM TOGETHER NOW!!"
The engineer looked excited. The other guy bent down to Espen.
"Do you think we can make it, little man?"
Espen nodded furiously, his dreams coming to life before his very eyes.
The engineer now began to drill holes in the Styrofoam with a stick so he could loop the rope through and lash the tires together. Other guy, Espen and I started chatting.
It turned out that he was an airline pilot out with his good pal the engineer for an afternoon adventure.
The pilot nodded solemnly, "That's a good name."
"What's your name?" Espe asked the pilot.
"Sohail" replied the pilot.
"Is that Iranian?" I asked.
He nodded and added that he'd lived here since he was 5 or so. I apologized for our current administration.
"What does YOUR name mean?" I asked, curious.
"It's a special star. Really, it's kind of a Persian thing."
Espen looked impressed.
We asked the engineer what his name was and where he was from.
"Tashi. It's Pakistani."
"What does it mean?" asked Espen.
"It means the stars of the heavens."
I was excited now. "So you both have names that mean stars?! How lovely!"
They looked at each other and stared. Sohail laughed.
"We've known each other for 6 years and this has never come up."
Sohail and Tashi kept building and lashing their raft together which was looking more dubious by the minute.
When Sohail stepped aboard to test it, he nearly capsized himself before being hauled back to shore.
Espen was full of advice.
"Guys, guys," said the Bear wisely, "You need to LAY DOWN ON EACH OTHER AND PADDLE."
They stared at him and slowly nodded. It was a good point, but not one they were prepared to implement.As we stood there watching the sun fade, Sohail got more enthusiastic about the venture while Tashi the engineer became increasingly reticent.
Espen was actively trying to throw himself onto the raft while they debated.
Finally, much to his chagrin, I had to extricate him from the grand scheme because I was due to teach yoga pronto.
Sohail and Tashi promised to leave the raft on the shore when they returned so Espen could find it if it succeeded.
Two days later, with stars still in his eyes, Espen and I returned to the scene of the scheme. There was no boat to be found, but the legend of the Middle Eastern Stars would live on....
