“You cannot step into the same river twice”

Crystal River painting by Ted Peterson

As a 13-year-old boy, it took a while to save up to buy the $59.97 canoe kit advertised in Boys Life. I sold Petoskey stones under the name Petoskey Pete, babysat, and scraped together birthday money to get the $59.97. I rounded up to $60.00 as I worried the coins would rip the envelope. I didn’t tell my siblings, friends, or parents because I thought they would try to talk me out of it.