I am swimming in this river of life. Sometimes smack in the middle of the fast moving current, surrendering to the flow. Not fighting it.
Sometimes the river of life runs low during dry periods and grounds me on a sandbar for a time, until the rains come and the water rises again.
And then, once again, I give myself to the river, trusting its course and flow as the current pulls me downstream.
The water of this river joins all waters of the earth, all creeks, rivers, streams lakes, inland seas, all melted glaciers, ice and snow. The current’s pull grows stronger.
The flow of all water on our planet culminates finally in the one great meeting place.
This is the ocean, where numberless droplets merge and become one universe of surging and living water, the stuff of life.
I am ceaseless and timeless. I flowed past the camps of your ancestors in ancient times, and I flow now under the concrete and steel bridges of your streets and highways, between fields of corn and beans. I flow past the towns and factories through forests and wetlands.
Life flows endlessly here- always the same, always new and fresh.
I may change course over time, undercut and topple the tallest trees, cut through solid stone, shape and carve the landscape.
I carry much that you choose to discard, your pollution and garbage. It becomes part of me. Is this what you want?
I rise and flood in spring, after the long winter freeze, swelling and spreading expanding beyond my banks. I pick up speed and power.
Do not argue with a flooded river!
My ripples respond to the most delicate vibrations of wind and weather and light and water currents, to rumblings in the earth, the movements of the stars.
The sun reflects and creates sparkles and dancing bands of light in my depths. You might sit near me and meditate on my hypnotizing moving light and water show. Find peace here.
Sunlit ripples on shallow water
I provide a home for the water dwellers, the fish of all descriptions, crustaceans, insects, the tadpoles and frogs, turtles, food for the fur-bearers and birds, a place of thirst quenching for all.
I grind and polish rough stones to smooth. I grind and polish smooth stones to sand. I compress sand into sandstone. Do not ask me how or why. It is in my nature to do so.
I run under the open sky at night, only the stars and moon lighting me in the uninhabited places. I move under the earth in complete darkness, carving the structure of this planet into caves of great complexity and beauty.
I am the river of life that flows through your ancient memory into your present and on toward the future.
It is my purpose to collect the waters of the earth and channel them effortlessly, to cleanse and shape the earth, to reach oneness with the great waters at the end of my journey… which is only the beginning.
Ask Grandmother Cottonwood 