It's water under the bridge...

::mood::sore throatish
::book::blue like jazz, by donald miller

I went to the 31st street river park last night. I went there to read, technically. But really I went there to experience all that is the spirit of the Arkansas River. Mostly it isn't that big of a deal any more. One can usually see most of the riverbed. There's quite a bit of trash laying around. And it's really not a very safe place at night.

But we've had a lot of rain recently. And rain has to go somewhere. So it flows downhill, into the storm sewers, and into creeks, and rushes down and out to the river. From thousands upon thousands of acres. And all those millions of gallons of water, from all those thousands of square miles end up right here, running through the Arkansas Riverbed, right in front of my eyes.

I'm pretty sure this is the most full I have ever seen it in all of my life.

And so, I have this theory: the water in that riverbed is like a magnet; however much of it there is, is proportionate to the amount of draw it has on the city life. Because yesterday, there were a ton of people there at the river. People just like me. If you asked them, they might tell you that they came to the river park to take a walk, or to ride their bike, or to look cool, or to walk their dog, or to look cool walking their dog. But, as one of the masses, I think I know better. They really...WE really, all just came out to experience all that is the spirit of the Arkansas River. And all that is the height of the glory of the spirit of the River. Cause we all felt the magnetic draw. And we don't know when we'll be feeling it again. Kinda like these skater punks.

They were looking cool, doing their stunts and showing off. But I happened to overhear one of them saying, "Dude, this is boring. There's nothing going on. Lets, like, go somewhere. Or something." And so, some people like them ended up leaving their mark. They must have been bored, too. Probably they were on their way somewhere else, too.

There was a great big bumblebee buzzing around these flowers as I sat nearby. He would settle on one for a few seconds, then buzz off to another. But when I came over to take his picture, he got scared of me and flew away. So I just got a picture of the flower to remember him.

So maybe it isn't really a magnetic draw. Maybe it was the Full Moon Run going on all evening. Maybe it was the promise of concerts and movies and community events that were scheduled all day long along the riverside. Maybe it was the sunshine after two weeks of solid rain that had people itching to get out and breath some fresh, clean oxygen.

But there you have it, the rain again, and the runoff, and the gallons of water, and the overfull river, and the magnetic draw, and the collection of people and social events, which in itself is a draw, being as that we are 'herd animals' naturally.

At least, it sounds more cool that way; a bit more romantically alluring, if you will. And I like it better that way.