“Rowing down the river……..”

This was most interesting! Even as I was writing through the ten minute timeline, memories surfaced and merged with the opening line we were given - ‘Rowing down the river on a sunny afternoon…….’

Writing exercise - stream of conscious writing in a challenging time limit of 10 minutes.

Rowing Down the River

Rowing down the river on a sunny afternoon, it was the sun’s warmth, the slow moving water and the songbirds that had my full attention. It had been a long week on the road, traffic jams, construction and cyclists along the highway. I was tired and in need of respite. Here I was. Finally at home, my childhood home. Work was but a memory and the noise of traffic had dissipated. I slipped quietly into my old bedroom, found the jeans and t-shirt rumpled in my suitcase. Put my sandals on and slipped out of the house just as quietly, leaving my mom to her nap. Carefully I walked down the stone steps my dad had placed going down to the boat dock. The old red canoe that he kept carefully repaired was waiting for me as if it knew I was coming. A life jacket and oars were awaiting my arrival. My dad had prepared that for me. Getting out on the slow moving river transported me to summers long past. Once out on the river I paddled smoothly, the sun dappling the water. A splash got my attention. A brace of ducks had come in for a landing off to the side of my canoe. Green heads shining in the sun, they were chatting loudly to each other, breaking the silence that had settled around me. I could feel the tension of work and travel sliding into the water with each stroke of the oars. My shoulders relaxed. My breathing slowed. Lifting the oars from the water, laying them across the canoe, I sat in the stillness and felt the drift of the shining water. I was home in my heart and in my spirit.

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”

~ Norman Maclean