When I’m Feeling Hopeless and Lost, I Go to the River for Nourishment
A 5 things photo essay
It was a humid, October day. I’d been telling myself for weeks that a walk by the river would do my heart, head, and body a lot of good but hadn’t gone on one yet.
We’d been basically self-quarantined since Mid-March, with a smattering of visits to close family members on special occasions, like birthdays — all masked up.
The kids, ages 10 and 12, had been going to school — virtually — since March, with a strange summer break in between. Now, we were almost at the 9-week mark. David had returned to his closed door office at his graphic design firm.
I continued my freelance writing work from home. Our home is not large. All six of us (two dogs included) are stubborn and have strong personalities.
We were getting sick of each other. The kids’ bickering was escalating. David and I had mostly thrown down a white flag and just wove in and out of each other’s lives without much comment. We all needed a break from each other.
I got in the car Friday afternoon and drove to the Arkansas River, not far from our home. I had hand sanitizer in the car and a mask in my pocket. I’d brought a journal with me, but realized I didn’t want to sit on publicly shared property, so left…
