The document describes the flow of a river and its relationship with the people who live along it. It notes how the river is formed by water flowing from the mountains and changes its environment as it flows. The people who live along the river have learned to understand its behaviors and know where it is safe and dangerous. They pass this knowledge down to new generations so that all can live in harmony with the river.

1. The mist slowly creeps down the mountainside. Heavy laden
clouds transformed by meeting with the high places. Mist
gently becomes rain and then mist again, almost
imperceptibly swirling and shifting in the wind.

2. On other days there have been storms here, on those
days the water rushed and engulfed. Today it floats in
the air.

3. In winter water sits hard on the
earth, stones and leaves.

4. But always, inevitably it flows
away. Frost melts, mist trickles,
rain rushes; down the mountains
towards the river.

5. At any given point the river is a product of what has come
before. It is also the shaper of what will come.

6. This river is contained and formed by the ground it moves
through. In the same way, it shapes and changes this
environment. Bedding down into the earth, spilling over,
wearing and shifting as it goes.

7. The river is
made up of a
single
element. The
unchanging
ever present
force.
Without
water the
river ceases
to exist. It
drives and
creates the
river.

8. It comes into the river through many
paths, but only when it is held
together does it become the river.

9. There are those who live and
depend on the river. They can
move through and over it. It
provides for them and
transforms their lives.

10. Over time they learn to hear the river, with
their ears and eyes. They learn its secret
language, the hidden meaning of its ripples
and flow. Outsiders see only its shape but
the people of the river know its soul.

11. They have watched its slow and
subtle changes. They have witnessed
its powerful sudden shifts.

12. They know where to find safe harbours. They have
been swept along by irresistible currents. And they
know that one can quickly become the other.

13. Over time the people of the river, like the river itself, change.
They show their children the secrets they have learned. They
teach them the meaning of the ripples. Taking them first into
the safe harbours, they prepare them for the irresistible
currents.

14. They share what they have learned of the
earth around the river. What will hold and
what will give way. They look together at
the paths the water takes. They watch as
the river creates life, they watch as it brings
death. They know they cannot control it.

15. Each new generation knows its own river and where their
river fits into the story of the land. They live on ground
that was once below the water. They grow crops in soil
swept here from other lands.

16. The river is unique. It is still
made of water. It is still filled
from many sources. And it is
never the same, ever again.