Not So Bad

An empty parking lot. A winter river running high. For an aging steelhead angler, that means one thing: the water is his alone. Eighteen months after a knee replacement, the retired wildlife officer launches his drift boat for a solo float down a coastal river he has known for decades. He’s careful and he’s prepared, and every precaution he takes was learned from a close call. The fog lifts, the fish are running, and the old skills come back with every stroke of the oars. As the miles slip past, he looks back on a life spent outdoors: the work, the losses, the friends who have dropped away. He decides it hasn’t been so bad. But the river has changed since he last ran it, and on a drift boat there’s no going back once you’ve committed. Not So Bad is a quiet, tightly observed story about solitude, self-reliance, and how much depends on a single step.