The River

I went on a walk today with Eli and Ryan. We were dropping off senior gifts together and decided we would go to the Chagrin river park. I took an excursion in the park restroom which had surprisingly very decent facilities and off we were. For the entire day, it was raining on and off. The temperature was great the entire day, and it smelled like rain. The sky was covered by clouds and the entire world was a few shades darker. It would have been a little somber if it was not for the long lost company. We spent time walking around the trailed path taking pictures along the way. We were walking and we suddenly noticed a massive squirrel in the tree next to us. Eli stopped to take a close up picture while I recorded him approaching the squirrel in hope of a squirrel attack. It was funny to me that something so obvious went so unnoticed. Suddenly, the rain started to pour a lot harder. My favorite shirt was getting wet. I thought about what Mr. Harris told us about our bodies and rain “our bodies are more adapted to the rain than you think.” So I took off my shirt, and soon Eli and Ryan followed. The raindrops hit my skin directly, and trickled down my impermeable skin. The breeze gave me goosebumps and the distance between myself and every natural phenomenon that surrounded, disappeared. I felt one with my surroundings. “This is nice,” we would say as we continued on the concrete path. An older couple laughed at our carelessness of not bringing an umbrella or any rain gear, but I would not have had it any other way. We saw deer resting in plains nearby staring at us. We stared back. We were almost just as exposed as they were. We took a few photographs and moved on. So did the deer. As we kept walking the river came into view. With rain still coming down harder than ever, the river flowed with intense speed. Recklessly picking up mud and soil along the way painting the river an unforgiving brown. The painted water functioned as a mask covering the inside of the river and the life, or void of life that lie underneath. I understood, that this calamity is most likely due to the runoff that came from the outside world, but it was humbling to see nature in such a powerful state. It drew us in, and we trekked down the short hill to come closer to the river. We wondered over the power of the river and debated about how deep the river was. We threw rocks in the river, as if trying to discover a clue or a hint about the inside of this mysterious river, but intellect fails us, and we are forced to move on. We went back to our cars, dried off, and drove home.