What is it about water that keeps us going back? It’s not just the necessity of it for our bodies, of course we need water to live. But, what is it that draws people to live on the edge of water? It’s not so much the life on it, but the life in it. Water brings us movement, wealth, life, and energy. From the beginning of time our ancestors built their homes along the banks of streams, rivers, lakes and seas. Water produces as well as transports our food. It gives us our livelihood, as well as our entertainment. For years, the Cumberland River has brought prosperity to Nashville, and now it seems it has brought ruin. Lets look at what the water does in the long term, though.
When I was a little girl I often went to visit my grandparents in Barbourville, KY. Their farm on that same Cumberland River was a showplace. The back porch looked out over a beautiful river bottom where every year the floods would come and replenish the land. Backwater in spring meant fertile land for good crops in the coming summer.
Back then there was very little flood control. The levee protected parts of the city, but for the most part the town was prone to flooding every spring. People looked at floods as a natural risk when you lived on the river. I remember going to visit a neighbor who had his house on the riverbank. In the ceiling there were hooks where he would hang his furniture when the water got high. He would never dream of moving. For him, life on the river was worth it.
Nowadays we are used to having control of our environments. We flip a switch to turn night into day, push a button to regulate the temperature in our homes, turn a key to drive anywhere we want in perfect comfort. We can have tomatos out of season, even fruits and vegetables delivered from all over the world. There seem to be no limits to our control.
Then nature speaks and we must listen. The city of Nashville will heal, and as it does it will grow in strength and beauty. And, people will remember for a time what happened that day nature showed us all who’s in charge.
