Rivers

Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay springs to mind as I watch the Fraser River flow to the sea. I walk almost every day and I have been building up my stamina to reach 7K a day. I was half way along the walk and I found my stamina was not what it was, and I had to sit. So, I choose spot on the dock along the River, where I am watching the River as I rest.

I watch the currents swirling and the flotsam drift by my spot. For those who are not aware the Fraser River is a large River on the West Coast of BC and where I walk it is also a tidal river. At this time of the year is running high and fast due to the snow melt and the rains.

The logs, branches and other debris are floating by at, what I thought was a fast pace. As I watched the river, I noticed that the debris appeared to be slowing down and then it stopped. The branches and the flotsam, slowed to a crawl and the just started to bob without moving, as if they were treading water. Slowly, almost at a snail’s pace, the debris I was watching started to move back up the river. Usually in the fall, winter or earl spring, I have noticed the tide turning and found it entertaining to watch the river currents first moving toward the ocean and then moving back to the mountains as the river and the tide fought for control. 

Because the river is so high and running so fast, I had not expected the tide to turn the river, but it did. I knew that within an hour the tide would turn, and the debris and the river would continue their journey to the ocean.

As I was watching I heard a power boar approaching, going down river, and I noticed that the boater gradually increased the acceleration of the boat as the tide shifted. The boater may not have realised what why he/she was slowing down but they compensated for the extra force against the boat to maintain the same speed.

As we go through life, some of us are the flotsam and allow the currents to take us where they want us to go, we drift along until sometimes we get caught between powerful forces that we are not aware and we stop, and drift around until we are pulled ahead without knowing what happened or why. Some of us are the boater who knows where they are going and have the energy to get there fast and when we are faced with currents that slow us down, we just increase the amount of energy we have to expend to get to where we want to go.