By a River

I had a think by a river last week.

Actually, I’ve had a lot of thinking sessions by rivers this past week. My family and I went on a multi-week, multi-state, multi-time zone, multi-national park road trip and found ourselves camping next to numerous rivers and streams. Apologies for the delay in this week’s newsletter. My excuse is I was drinking in entirely too much scenery to choose one thing to paint, much less have the time to do it.

Rivers are good thinking companions. You can sit, in silence, next to a river and let its flow wrestle with thoughts that are tangling your mind. Like when swiftly flowing water encounters a rock, a knot of thought can disrupt your clear eyed vision. Sitting by your river, you can mentally throw your incoherent thoughts into the rapids and watch as they roil and churn with the water. Let them tumble downstream, until they mellow out and find resonance in the ripples.

My summer nature journaling session starts next Sunday, 7/6. These sessions will be focused on creating an entire journal entry with emphasis on a location specific topic. Next week we’ll be meeting at Kachina Wetlands. We’ll start early, at 8:30, to avoid the late-morning monsoons. If you’re looking for something fun to end your holiday weekend with, you can sign up here.