Why the River

I have often wondered and occasionally been asked what it is that draws me to running water. While on the gentle waters of the Willamette I pondered this question. On the wide, slow waters of the Columbia I broached the question with Greg and Suzanne. Testing my theory, we wrestled with a multitude of answers. Overcome by bourbon and nearly swallowed by rough waters we chewed up and spat out the possibilities. Ultimately sober and virtually indestructible we settled upon an answer.

A friend once adamantly insisted that life is not meant to be easy.  Instead it is meant to be hard.  On the Willamette I proposed, and we decided that this is incorrect. Life is easy. People have been living for millennia. Over tens of thousands of years we’ve gotten pretty damn good at it. I would argue that the only thing easier than living is dying. As we all know only three things are necessary to life. Food, water, and shelter. Man figured that out back before we were Man.

We, individually, make life difficult. Due to restlessness, jealousy, boredom, ambition we “shake” things up and through doing so make our lives and the lives of those around us difficult. If we could all be satisfied with living (i.e. food, water, and shelter) then life would be easy. Unfortunately being satisfied with what we have has always been considered a flaw instead of a virtue.

While hitching a ride on wide waters flowing ever onward, Life insists that you be satisfied with her and her alone. And satisfied with life you begin to realize, to see, the connections that bring life together. The fly hatches drawing the trout, which brings the osprey and finally the eagle. The beaver slowly, almost lazily but with steady efficiency works timelessly as the waters flow around him. Drawing a breath and reaching into the cold, running waters you can almost touch the hand of the woman cleansing herself in the holy waters of the Ganges tens of thousands of miles away, the same body of water you are floating now.

It is the return to life’s essentials, a return to simplicity and innocence that brings me to running water. While floating a river there is only food, water, shelter to be concerned with. The simplicity that would benefit us in our daily lives is unavoidable on the river. The river carries us ever onwards, provides for us, and connects us. Next time you’re out walking and you come across an ancient flowing waterway take a moment. Walk down to its banks and reach into the cool waters, close your eyes and feel the steady, gentle pulse of the Earth. Then you will begin to understand why I can’t help but float the river.