“Maybe they should keep it this way,” someone said.

A Navy river cruiser came growling over the Potomac toward them, throwing up a white bow wave on its upstream side. When it reached the Mall it slipped through a gap in the cherry trees, cut back on its engines, settled down in the water, continued east at a more sedate pace. It was going to pass pretty close by them, and Charlie felt their own launch slow down as well.

Then he spotted a familiar face among the people standing in the bow of the patrol boat. It was Phil Chase, waving to the boats he passed like the grand marshal of a parade, leaning over the front rail to shout greetings. Like a lot of other people on the water that morning, he had the happy look of someone who had already lit out for the territory.

Charlie waved with both arms, leaning over the side of the launch. They were closing on each other. Charlie cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loud as he could.

“HEY PHIL! Phil Chase!”

Phil heard him, looked over, saw him.

“Hey Charlie!” He waved cheerily, then cupped his hands around his mouth too. “Good to see you! Is everyone at the office okay?”

“Yes!”

“Good! That’s good!” Phil straightened up, gestured broadly at the flood. “Isn’t this amazing?”

“Yes! It sure is!” Then the words burst out of Charlie: “So Phil! Are you going to do something about global warming now?”

Phil grinned his beautiful grin. “I’ll see what I can do!”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks for help from Guy Guthridge, Grant Heidrich, Charles Hess, Dick Ill, Chris McKay, Oliver Morton, Lisa Nowell, Ann Russell, Mark Schwartz, Sharon Strauss, and Jim Shea.