Dear Friend,
Do you know the song, Rivers and Roads, by The Head and the Heart? It’s a favorite around here, and has been on our roadtrip playlist for a few years. Clay and I also enjoy playing and singing it together. It’s a great song about being far away from the people you love.
Lately, I’ve been feeling as though I’m being carried along by a river with a swift current. Do you know that feeling? I feel like it happens a lot this time of year, the pace of things tends to increase as we prepare for winter and it’s hard not to feel as though you are being swept along, carried to sea.
We have spent a lot of time on or near rivers in our travels. In Fairbanks, we floated the Chena River with the locals on Fourth of July weekend. Surfing the wakes of the boats zipping by on our paddle boards and appreciating the sunshine and endless days with people who spend a large portion of their years in the dark. Aimlessly floating to restaurants and bars. Barely paddling, just floating along.
In the spring in Washington, we camped along the banks of the Hoh River in possibly the most beautiful spot we have ever parked our trailer. We soaked in the cool water on a hot day. We watched in awe as the river carved new paths, eroding the opposing bank, rocks and trees falling in with a crash every so often.
We try so hard to live intentionally, to be present in the little moments. Sometimes, though, we have so many plans, so many things to accomplish that we just flow from one to the next. We forget to stop and ask why. We forget to ask if this is really what we want to be doing. We just get pulled along by the current.
This is how I often feel in the fall, when to-do’s mount and enthusiasm can be hard to find. Especially this year with the weight of world events hanging on my heart, it’s hard to focus in on the details of Halloween plans, of school to-do lists and shopping plans. The current will carry me, I will get to things when they are pressing or they might just pass and that is okay, too.
While I am being swept along, I try to remember that rivers are not endless. They have beginnings and ends. We will reach the sea. I’m just surviving the ride, surfing the wake of the big boats whizzing by while I hang onto my paddle board, trying not to lose balance and fall in. Trying to soak up a little joy on the way as thousands of miles of road pass beneath us. The road I am on is a river carrying me to the peaceful sea that is a winter of hibernation.
I hope that if you, too, are in a river, in a rush of activity, that you will be carried to a peaceful sea. That your time on the river will have some joy. That you will get to where you are headed safely. That the current will slow enough to relax from time to time. That you can find some joy in the ride.
See you down the road,
Jamie