Bend in the Road

…two young men are coming; they’re just around the bend. Dressed in clothing as sturdy as they are, as easy and open and ready for what comes. They’re on foot, traveling light. Beyond the mountains, California is calling. The great rush to the American River has already driven thousands before them, on that perilous trek that “the cowardly don’t start, and the weak don’t finish,” but they are in no hurry; they are not driven by the lust for gold; it is a hunger for adventure that drives them. The dust at their feet is filled with magic.