A river runs through it

    The visual similarities of our human circulatory system compared to the water/river system of our earth has always fascinated me. It has nurture in me a stronger sense of reverence for all rivers.  What is the universe showing us....? Is there a grand design?

A few years back I created this personal piece of art, in which I collaged a map of regional rivers flowing from the melted snowcapped mountains into the veins of my hand, and then into the veins of the human representation of my life force, my heart.

"I am haunted by the waters..."
I wonder, is this the haunting, the similarities of earth waters and our circulation system in our bodies, that haunts Mcleans character? The rivers flowing inside of him that duplicate the earth's rivers?

We have floated two rivers this summer, with two rivers still on the docket. We have floated the Missouri River near Helena, Montana and the Yellowstone River from Reedpoint to Columbus, Montana. Each river is quite individual, giving one a very different experience to be on.  I am not haunted by the waters, as Norman Mclean wrote, but I am in awe of her powers, energy and life force. As the art represents, the river is the pulse of our being. Let us be reverent.

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories 
 
“Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!” said Piglet, feeling him.
Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.”
― A.A. Milne 
  
“Life is like the river, sometimes it sweeps you gently along and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.”
― Emma Smith

Roseanne Cash
"A Feather's Not A Bird"

I'm going down to Florence, gonna wear a pretty dress
I'll sit atop the magic wall with the voices in my head
Then we'll drive on through to Memphis, past the strongest shoals
Then on to Arkansas just to touch the gumbo soul

A feather's not a bird
The rain is not the sea
A stone is not a mountain
But a river runs through me

There's never any highway when you're looking for the past
The land becomes a memory and it happens way too fast
The money's all in Nashville but the light's inside my head
So I'm going down to Florence just to learn to love the thread

A feather's not a bird
The rain is not the sea
A stone is not a mountain
But a river runs through me

I burned up seven lives and I used up all my charms
I took the long way home just to end up in your arms
That's why I'm going down to Florence, now I got my pretty dress
I'm gonna let the magic wall put the voices in my head

A feather's not a bird
The rain is not the sea
A stone is not a mountain
But a river runs through me

The quotes are excerpts  from a journal  I have kept  through the years of  lyrics, and poetry lines that include river.

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A River Runs Through It, Amazon

The River and the Thread, music, Amazon