A River Runs Through It

Isn't this photo amazing?  I saw some version of it on Facebook recently and couldn't get it out of my mind.  Captioned as the place where the Atlantic and Pacific meet, I brought the concept to the lunch table, where all things frivolous and fantastic are discussed.  There, its legitimacy was confirmed, and so I believed it.

. . . until this morning, when I did a bit more research on Snopes.

While the photo is legitimate, Snopes identified the accompanying text as misleading.  Turns out, this image is of sediment-heavy glacial-river water being carried by ocean currents near the Gulf of Alaska.  One of the first photographers of this phenomenon, ocean sciences professor Ken Bruland, also debunked the idea that this delineation is impermeable.

"They do eventually mix, but you come across these really strong gradients at these specific moments in time."

When I read his quote, I had to remind myself that he was talking about water, not our country.  And yet, his explanation easily could be applied to the United States at this specific moment in time, don't you think?

Consider my original source of confirmation--the lunch-table crowd, which is made up of a smart bunch of folks.  When they told me it was true, I assumed that it was.

But it wasn't.  Not exactly.   It's a good reminder that I need to leave my tribe sometimes and venture out for additional sources. 


His quote packed another punch for me, as well.  A hopeful one.

"They do eventually mix, . . . "

In a time when politicians and news agencies seem only to focus on the bookends--the weirdos on both sides--it's good to be reminded that, in many ways, we are still mixing it up with each other in that messy middle, where most of us reside.

Bruland also offered hope when explaining the line between things.  "Such borders are never static, as they move around and disappear altogether, depending on the level of the sediment and the whims of the water."

Regardless of what we are told each day, we are less either/or than we are both/and.  Maybe it's time to clear the sediment and resist the whims a bit.