The reason many people choose to live in a small rural community, such as the one I found thrust upon me over three decades ago, is about a lifestyle. It’s the quiet, the neighbourliness, the open spaces and lack of traffic. It’s a slower pace, a kinder, gentler atmosphere.
But, of course, it does come with a trade-off. Unless you are self-employed, there are very few people in this village of 1,000 who find work close to home. For over 20 years, I was among those driving to and from work each and every day, through raging snowstorms, dark winter nights, and on sunny summer days when I wished myself on the deck instead of in my car.
Now, however, I’m one of the lucky ones. Three years ago, I found a great job seven blocks from my house. What a treat it is to be able to walk to work. While the majority of my route takes me through the downtown core, I do cross over the bridge so get a brief glimpse of nature, and the changing patterns caused by seasons and weather in general, every morning and evening.
Rivers are fascinating. They are home to flora and fauna. They rage, or be still. They meander and fall, ripple and flow. They can be mighty, or mighty small. They can be as pure as a mountain stream or as murky as swamp water. And they provide us with varied entertainment. We ride on them, swim in them, fish from them, picnic beside them or just sit and watch them.
So, if you don’t have the good fortune of crossing one every day as I do, enjoy these photographs that capture all of that beauty and pleasure.
National Geographic Photos of Rivers
