Calm Waters

Water has a soothing effect. Calm waters, slow moving rivers, baths, fountains, ponds, lapping lakes: they're my favorite.

My two rivers, the Colne and the Potomac, are calm rivers. They mirror the sky and everything between the sky and their surface. Both are cloudy, sediment filled rivers. They inspire meditation on their flow, their progress, their moods, their constant movement that occurs even when you can't see it.

These rivers aid thinking. They inspire. The provide a comfortable backdrop to a wide variety of thoughts: some easy and fun, some less comfortable.

These rivers instruct. High tide, low tide, keep your head down and don't loose sight of the goal. In every moment, a continuous effort towards the sea. High tide, low tide, but always at least a trickle of water. Water is the constant. Like love, like friendship, like joy: each always there, steams within us; celebrate the times when they rise to the top of the river bank. Natural variations. The river flows, as in life, as in love, so it comes, so it goes.

These rivers try to capture glorious sunsets, like my memory, like my camera, but they fail and the sunsets fade.

Both have been witness to history.

I left the Potomac behind. I have the Colne here, meters away. I feel the urge to wade in, waist deep, and feel the river flow around me. Will it tug at my clothing? Will it stun with its winter temperature? Will I learn more by osmosis?