After the Spring Runoff

By late May the water had stepped back from the cottonwoods, leaving every familiar bend rearranged. New gravel lay clean and pale against the dark bank. The best field days begin with that slight disorientation: the place is known, but its details have been rewritten.

We walked slowly, quartering the bars instead of racing the shoreline. Agate often announces itself with a waxy glow, but overcast light rewards shape and texture first. A thumb over the rind is sometimes more useful than a bright flashlight.

Most finds went back into the river. We kept a palm-sized waterline agate, two small pieces of wood, and a handful of reference stones for the studio shelf. Field collecting is an editing practice: the restraint is part of the work.