River - what does it bring to mind?

In my classes I often give my students prompts or something in the way of a word or phrase to jog their minds so they think of a subject to  write about.  Over the years, I have found prompts to be excellent starters for poems or stories. 

I am going to be giving prompts on Writers Circle once or twice a week. If you like, take the prompt and see where it takes your thoughts, what images come to mind. Write a poem or prose piece. If you’d like, you can send it to me, gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com and I will read it. I might share it on this blog.

Today’s prompt is the word: river

River immediately sends me back to the days when I rode a big yellow school bus. To get to my fourth grade school, I had to cross the big, muddy Flint River. I can still feel my fear and excitement when I looked way down from the bridge and saw the swirling water moving under the bridge. My fear of bridges over rivers haunts me to this day.

When I think of river, I also remember the time my husband and I joined a  group of friends who took boats down the Flint River and across Lake Seminole, through the  locks and ended our trip at Applachicola Bay. The warm sun on our backs and the musty smells of the dank grasses and bushes along the banks created a perfect environment for total relaxation. 

A river of tears ran down her cheeks. There were song lyrics, “I cried a river over you.” The boxes on the conveyer belt moved like a fast flowing river, never stopping.

What do you see in your mind when you say or read the word – river?