I floated two sticks in the canal

On my way out, as I passed the large Cottonwood tree that is on the bank of the canal, I put two large sticks in the water. I then continued another quarter mile to my turnaround point. On my way back I passed the sticks as they neared the tunnel under a busy city street. The sticks had traveled about half a mile from the time I put them in the water until I passed them on my way back. When I was a kid I used to float sticks in irrigation ditches, and I'm still a kid at heart.