Cowboy On The River Trail.

Whatever its size, a river is something that draws us,
There is something about a river’s  journey that connects to time.
A passageway that marks the cycle of life.
In a revolving world as it circles our unassuming star.
They symbolize that magic that sustains life
If our rivers stood still…  so would we.

Always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats!

There is something about spending time by a river. Whether it be in the rural landscape, an estuary or the middle of a city. Be it a quiet stroll with a loved one, relaxation with the family and friends or “time to yourself;” people need rivers. They bring the natural to our toes and the sound and sight of nature to pleasure. Adults become children again,; finding the urge to cast pebble to water as irresistible as a coin to wishing well. It is a partnership as old as time itself and so it will remain; even in our age of technology and consumerism. Occasionally they threaten or take our human lives but, in general, serve us well and loyally.

©Charimage 2013

The Rivers Grand.

Here we have the notables, iconic and venerable. Names such as Nile, Amazon and Mississippi to fire the soul and blow the mind. Rivers so vast that we are, as ants, made diminutive and exiguous. We visit, as pilgrims, to pay our respects to their tours de force. They challenge man’s claim to rule his world and serve to remind us of the power of nature. Among the venerated is the Iguazu River and it’s famous Iguazu Falls that straddle the border between Argentina and Brazil. One of its falls, The Devil’s Throat, spans over 150 m and drops over 80 m. During the rainy season the capacity going over the falls can be in excess of 12,500 cubic m/second. Power beyond our imagination and where does it come from? The sun. Research on the periodic fluctuation of the water level on the Iguazu River found a correlation to the sun’s fluctuation in brightness. The river level rises after our sun has been brighter and falls back after solar activity quietens. Perhaps our affection and affinity for rivers reflects this and we are, at heart, still sun worshipers?

©Lifecruiser 2013

Solar Echos.

Put some water in the kettle and prepare to make a cup of tea. While it’s coming to the boil, run and take a look at how fast your electricity meter is going round. Whilst you enjoy your well-earned cup of tea; consider the amount of energy it has taken to heat it up and remember the volume of water crashing over The Devil’s Throat Falls. Our sun (roughly 93 million miles away) decides to make a cup of tea and radiates energy in all directions into space. A tiny percentage of which strikes the earth and is enough to vaporize the water of the oceans thousands of miles away from the Iguazu River. This gets carried by our weather systems and produces rain on another continent. Rain which feeds rivers which hurry on their way to rejoin the oceans. This will give you some idea of how fast our sun’s energy meter is running. The driving force of our ecosystem. They reckon it has been running for about 4.5 billion years and most of its output completely misses our tiny planet. I (for one) give thanks each time I cast a pebble into a river:-
I’m sure glad I don’t have to foot the bill!

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
~ Heraclitus.

©Lifecruiser
Cowboy Trails

Other Cowboy Trails posts at Lifecruiser:

I Want to be Alone
Why Do We Travel?