95 – Fluid

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

On my walk toward the beach, I notice a kite flying high several condos away. It’s steady – a sign the owner is not struggling to keep it soaring. The waves are normal as water comes ashore then returns to the sea. The water is not overly calm, but not noticeably strong. There was a riptide current warning yesterday, but not today.

I reach the kite’s location. I smile when noticing its string tied to a chair occupied by its owner reading a book.

Suddenly, I think about my occasional encounter with a pelican effortlessly gliding back and forth near a condo. To me, a pelican playing in the wind reminds me of the soaring hawks and buzzards I see at home.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Water, waves, a kite, a pelican, and the air are ideas coming together around the idea of flow and fluids.

A fluid is anything that flows, which are primarily liquids and gases. Fluids flow and take the shape of a container. Words commonly have multiple meanings, and fluid is no different because we use fluid as a synonym for a liquid. That’s fine as long as we realize that liquids are not the only fluids.

As a ballroom dancer, I think of the fluid movements associated with dances as waltz and foxtrot. The easy flowing motions of the dancers – the fluidity of their movement across the floor. Their movements are as smooth, elegant, and graceful as the waves and the soaring birds. The same is true for other dancers, especially ballet and contemporary.

Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels.com

Although the waves are constant, each wave is different, Patterns of similarities exist, but waves also differ from day to day – let alone throughout the day.

Waves have a force: sometimes powerful and other times not so much – but still carrying a force – a force washing the water ashore where it meets the beach’s resistant slope while refreshing my feet.

Most of the time, the beach’s slope causes the water to retreat to the sea – but taking a different path. Sometimes the water successfully climbs the sand’s crest – occasionally collecting as a mini-lake away from the water’s edge only to be swept away at high tide or percolate through the sand.

Sometimes the water climbs the sand’s crest, but then follows a natural trench – sometimes to the left – other times to the right – but always in the same direction. As the water flows left or right, it may meet other naturally moving water returning to the sea – joining as two rivers into one – but always in the same direction.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Because I see miniature streams, I think of the world’s major rivers – all flowing in the same direction. The Nile River going north, and the Mississippi River going south – but in the same direction. The Danube River is flowing southeast, the Rhine to the northwest, the St. Lawrence River to the northeast, and the mighty Amazon to the east. Yes, their directions are all the same – just like the waters on the beach because water flows downhill.

The fluid movement of water is mesmerizing – seemingly lulling us into a trance while filling us with a sense of calm – a flowing river, water over the rocks in a stream, the gentle laps of the waves over my feet, and even the thunderous roar of a waterfall.

Water has a way – a way of losing us. The rocking motion on a boat or a ship takes us back to embryonic times in the fetal environment.

I think of the sounds of water slapping against the sides of a boat anchored or docked – the sound as the boat sways with the water.

I think about how water generally flows in one direction – plus the ebbs and flows of tides.

I think about how water’s fluidity is generally unaffected by temperature – unlike maple syrup that flows much slower when it is cold out of the refrigerator and flowing faster when heated.

Photo by Anni Roenkae on Pexels.com

I think about the fluid nature of the future – how decisions today affect the days ahead – how our future choices lead us to an unknown.

Life itself is very fluid – and some people seem to be better at going with the flow than others.

Thinking about fluids and flow has been an unexpected, interesting diversion – but thinking as I stroll across the sand is easy. After all, I like walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about fluids

• Heavy on the Wing … (poem)
• Shadows in the Sun, Sky and Soul (poem)
• Quiet Chaos (artwork)
• Even When Time Stops, the River Flows On (poem by a visitor here)
• Floating (poem)

Next Post: Shadows – Saturday 4th December @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

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