Dreaming About A River

Canada
December 5, 2015 4:22pm CST
My sister and I have camped together with our children that were even smaller than this guy in the photo when we first started. Our children are grown and several of them have children of their own. They spend time with us while we camp when their parents find the time to join us. I snapped this photo last summer early in the morning. He's holding a toy and watching the river in the quiet part of the morning before every one is awake. He's out of his tent because his mother asked if I would watch him and of course I said I would. This little guy knows the rules and walked to the edge of the river. He won't jump in because rule number one is you have to have a bathing suit on (No pajamas) and rule number two a parent has to be with you...(she's still in the tent with the little brother). As I stood there watching him watching the river I wondered what he was thinking. That river is the same river I've camped next to since I was a baby. I wonder what I though about the river when I was small. He stood there for a long time, mesmerized by the moving water and the noise of the river splashing over and around rocks. At night in the dark or at dawn before full light you can hear voices. We know its caused by the water against the rocks but when you can't see it, the river babbles. it talks. You can't hear specific words but you can hear conversations going on and laughter. Lots of laughter. When that happens we think it must be our parents who are gone now, who brought us to this spot years ago, letting us know that they know we are here and they are happy we still love this beautiful place. Do you have someplace to go to remember what it was like to be a child?
18 people like this
18 responses
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
5 Dec 15
I think that I do though I.haven't gone there in a long time.
2 people like this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
I hope you get there when you want some peace and quiet and memories.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
6 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate It is a very long drive and I am not sure when I will get back there.
1 person likes this
• Canada
7 Dec 15
@BelleStarr Then you need to find a new place that makes you happy, comfortable and able to think!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
5 Dec 15
I love both your post and the picture Marilyn. The place I go to is inside my head.
2 people like this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
I keep a few places inside my head too, when I need some quite and peace to think. I knew you would like both... Thanks.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
6 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate The photo is absolutely charming
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (134477)
• Roseburg, Oregon
5 Dec 15
I bet the river has seen a lot on its journey and has a lot to say.
2 people like this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
It talks up a storm in the dark. There were mornings when we first camped with our kids and I would hear the voices and wonder who was out there - all my kids were sound asleep around me so I would sneak out to see who was up and it was no one..once outside the tent the voices disappear..strange but true. Its the babbling river....The movement of the water on rocks.
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
6 Dec 15
That picture takes me back. The river I remember best from childhood was closer to the coast and formed a tidal basin rather than a running flow, but it is still someplace I love to go and camp. I had to do a double take when I saw the title of your post. RIVER DREAM is the title of my debut novel and the series of books of which it is the first volume.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
6 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate If you have a Kindle or Kindle app, the 3 River Dream ebooks are on sale from now until the first of the year for ninety-nine cents each. If you'll message me with the email address you use on Amazon, I'd be glad to send you a GC for the first one.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
I am going to look up your books. Camping with mother nature is a delightful experience and we still do it every summer.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
@DWDavis so I won't find them anywhere else? I will look into them on Amazon. Thanks for the offer, I usually don't buy on line but it might be worth getting a new email address to do it.
1 person likes this
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
5 Dec 15
There's a hill near where I grew up that serves that purpose for me.
2 people like this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
Sounds like a good place to go to relax and think!
@TheHorse (205825)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Dec 15
I too can be mesmerized by the sight and sound of running water. Sometimes I play music on my mandolin while watching and listening. Sometimes I add nothing. I think Kids and nature are a great combination. There are a million things to see, hear and feel, and a million questions to ask. But sometimes just experiencing it is enough.
2 people like this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
Awe, your comment touched my heart. That is how I feel often, It's a beautiful place to be to meditate on life.
@celticeagle (159105)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Dec 15
Maybe he is just watching the river go by and listening to it. Doesn't have to be thinking about anything in particular.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
He could have been doing that, he stood there for a long time with no distractions because his cousins and sibs were still sleeping.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111195)
• El Paso, Texas
6 Dec 15
That's an awesome picture. I think we all have small memories of special times and places where we were carefree happy wee ones.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111195)
• El Paso, Texas
7 Dec 15
You've made me think of my grandma @PainsOnSlate I only met her a few times but I do remember how much she liked to laugh.
1 person likes this
• Canada
7 Dec 15
I agree, we all should have memories of childhood and bring them back when we need that comfort or a laugh.
1 person likes this
@simone10 (54189)
• Louisville, Kentucky
6 Dec 15
No but I wish I did. The house I grew up in is long gone now and someone else owns the land and house where my grandmother lived.
1 person likes this
@simone10 (54189)
• Louisville, Kentucky
11 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate I do have pictures and that is almost as good as being able to be there.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
I hope you find a nice place to rest and remember. We all need a break from our busy lives at some time.
1 person likes this
@gudheart (12659)
8 Dec 15
I haven't but that place sounds like a lovely place for you to travel back to your childhood days :D
1 person likes this
• Canada
8 Dec 15
I've always loved it there, when my parents were old they would bring their camper and we would sleep in a tent, even before my sister and i started every year. Fond memories
@norcal (4890)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
5 Dec 15
I do have places I can go that make me feel that way, but none of them are places I went when I was a child. I have left those places far behind.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
If you have a goto place to find peace, it doesn't have to from childhood. I'm glad you have a place.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
@norcal That works too.
1 person likes this
@norcal (4890)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
6 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate Sure, I have plenty of places. Some of them are only in my mind.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35701)
• Canada
8 Dec 15
Beautiful writing. Skiing is what my family did together as a child and what I did with my children. Being on a quiet ski slope is something I cherish.
1 person likes this
• Canada
8 Dec 15
I know what you mean. When I could ski I loved and looked forward to winter. Since I got a new knee, my surgeon said no more, it broke my heart but I'd wanted to be pain free. It was necessary and I'm happy i did it.
• Canada
8 Dec 15
@paigea Maybe not! You will do it until you can't...
1 person likes this
@paigea (35701)
• Canada
8 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate my dad skied until he was 82. I am sure I will be ready to stop before that. Maybe.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
7 Dec 15
I would definitely go to the riverbanks to recall my childhood. I cannot swim though. I recall the time when I and my late mother wash our dirty clothes.
1 person likes this
• Canada
8 Dec 15
Our river is very shallow and you can actually walk across it so its safe for the kids. We have washed our clothes in the river when we needed too but used a special soap that won't hurt the river or the fish and things that live in it.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate that is great. But we have this belief (again!) that shallow waters run deep, and may cause some drowning, especially where mermaids are believed to exist.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
9 Dec 15
Yes the river is memorizing, I also love a campfire, I call it fire tv, and it's way better than regular tv. Love it.
1 person likes this
• Canada
9 Dec 15
We love our fires too, sit there for hours just talking. And marshmallows..
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
9 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate well yeaaaa marshmallows and coffee
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23676)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
7 Dec 15
To answer your question--I'd rather not visit that time again. :O)
1 person likes this
• Canada
8 Dec 15
I'm sorry your childhood was not a happy one. I can understand not going back to someplace that hurt you. I was lucky, and had a happy childhood.
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
6 Dec 15
I still have toys (soft ones) from when I was a child, and these remind me sometimes. Your river sounds like a lovely family tradition.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
It is a tradition. My kids who are in their 30's and 40's camp with us when they can. My sister's children also adults are closer and always camp with us while we camp. I have some toys from my childhood, happy memories.
1 person likes this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
6 Dec 15
We moved so much due to my Dad working as a food and beverage manager in hotels, that I do not have one specific place, but memories of many places. When it is raining outside at night and all is quiet, I sit and go through those memories, of climbing trees, swimming in rivers, hiking an almost mountain by mistake :-). Though I must say I am blessed to still have both my parents and am enjoying every precious second with them.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
I'm glad you still have your parents. They are full of memories too and I miss that. Memories are our history.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325854)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Dec 15
This is a lovely post. I can imagine your parents watching you all having so much fun. There would be places on the farm that are special but it belongs to someone else now. Even when I visited some years ago there was much I didn't recognise. The buildings all seemed much closer together - maybe because my legs were shorter then.
1 person likes this
• Canada
6 Dec 15
That is the nice thing about this state campground, it never gets bigger, its always the same and the river always runs through it.
1 person likes this