Braving the November chill

he ascended and descended

into the turbulent, hot waters

and stiffly reclined, water

tumbling over, under, around

his taut body working musc-

les, tendons, ligaments, warm-

ing the flesh deeply to the bone.

He reclined, the jets pounding

his back and neck. Around him

shook the gloriously bright

birch leaves in the backyard

accent lights; arborvitae branch-

es tossed back and forth, giant

pines thrashed in the swirling

wind off the Big Lake and blue

clouds blew by the full moon,

over and over and over on a

journey south? He was in North

Country Heaven and his soon-

to-turn-seventy-year-old-body

sighed in gratitude.