Countdown to Hometurf: Rivers and Rain

When I left Scottsdale for Memphis almost three years ago, one of my favorite things about my new home was all of the water - the thunderstorms and rain, the river, even the tap water is sweeter in Memphis. I decided some time after I moved that I wanted to settle in cities near rivers. There is something lovely about rivers; standing near them is less overwhelming than the feeling of being swallowed up at the edge of an ocean.

In this new country, I've been able to seek out daily time and space near water. It has offered an invitation to rest and renewal, a reminder of new life and of beauty.

I've stopped by Oceans...

North Beach, Isle of Iona

Martyr's Bay, Isle of Iona

and Rivers...

River Thames, London

River Don, Aberdeen

 (more) River Don

by Seas...

North Sea, Aberdeen

North Sea, Dundee

...and Sounds...

Sound of Iona (looking on Mull)

(more) Sound of Iona

...even some tide pools.

North Beach, Isle of Iona

Last week, I spent some time on a park bench watching the sunset by the River Don. I was joined briefly by one of the university chaplains and a very enthusiastic, very large golden retriever. As we shared details of what the following week and month would hold for both of us, I found myself glad to have a moment of peace and stillness by the water - the water had no interest in our words about stress, international plane travel, conferences, holding friends and students in the middle of illness and the messiness of life. It just continued to be a river, flowing, going, always to the North Sea, occasionally welcoming a swan or mallard.

All of the rain aside, I will actually really miss the all of the water here, running along the River Don, and soaking up the view of the East coast on the train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. The beaches and water in the sound at Iona are some of the most breathtakingly beautiful things I have ever seen, and I love that I can step out of my apartment and be at the water's edge two minutes.

Even though I'll miss all of that, I am eager to see the Mighty Mississippi again, to fall asleep to rain pounding on the window panes, and to be thoroughly soaked after running through a Southern summer thunderstorm.

I also think it might be wise to leave before I see a whale and the beauty of the water here is ruined by my inexplicable fear of aquatic mammals.