Slip-Sliding Away
(Neighbors • River)
Natives to the woodsy river-bottom country hereabout are a sturdy and secretive bunch. At first they regarded us with suspicion but, over the years they have come to accept us. So much so that yesterday we were allowed to witness their little-known gene-pool rejuvenation ceremony, held only in concurrence with the rare emergence of the Chicharra Grande.
Prone to misunderstanding by outsiders, the ceremony stems from hard times in centuries past, when crop failure and angry Indians both took a great toll on the river dwellers. With scant food and no medical attention available, only the strong survived. And, apparently, to assure a stronger people in the future, better able to adapt to the harsh cards they’d been dealt, the river dwellers found a humane if religiously troubling method of culling the weakest among their numbers.
In days gone by the ceremony would be accomplished using carefully gathered containers of water poured down a muddy and sacred riverbank. Today, the same effect is achieved with a wide swath of triple-thickness greenhouse plastic and several squeeze bottles of dish-washing detergent.
The children of the clan are dressed in light costume, honored with a party including their favorite tidbits and hugged all around by resolute yet hopeful elders who then encourage them to partake of a time-honored competition to determine the future leaders among them. Who can get to the bottom of the slide in the fastest time? they are asked. Who wants to be Junior Boss President?
Well, of course they all do, and so they charge off and fling their little bodies upon the soapy plastic, frolicking and laughing through what, for many, will be their last moments as they realize, with only seconds to spare, that the Great Slide extends all the way to the waters of the Brazos River below.
The clever and the strong somehow find a way to pull themselves to safety before the churning river claims their bodies. And for the rest, mercifully, the whirlpools drag them down and make a quick, painless end of it. 
We found it a heart-rending undertaking, even as detached observers. It was made the more difficult as one among a mostly stoic group of elders broke ranks and attempted to retrieve a favorite daughter from the arms of the Brazos, only to suffer a similar fate.
“The gods accept our gifts and bless us for it,” the Senior Boss President explained simply.
→ B.Dunn, Sep 13, 2009, 06 18 am
