A couple of weeks ago, just as summer was about to click over to fall, we snuck in one last family river trip: floating the Green River through Labyrinth Canyon, one of the country's premiere stretches of desert flat water. For five days we paddled, swam, slept on sandbars, and played under crystalline Utah skies. Life was good. Life was easy.
There's something about living outside on water that simplifies and smoothies the rough edges away. No electronics, no alarms, no deadlines or bills, no toys scattered all over, only a handful of dishes to clean. All the food we need, packed into a few coolers.