A concept that I could never get through my thick skull was the difference between the mouth and the source of a river. In fact, I had to look up that information before writing this because it just doesn’t seem logical.
The source part is quite easy to understand being the place where water first enters the river. It is the mouth part that has always escaped me. Isn’t your mouth where food and drink enter your body? Of course, it is. And there lies my issue with this river terminology. Concerning a river, the mouth is where the water spills into a greater sea, ocean or gulf as the Mississippi River does in New Orleans. Without being crude, when the human body expels, it is not through the mouth (unless you have the stomach flu). Well, you can anticipate what I think the river mouth should be changed to. Need I say more?
Happy to get that imponderable off my chest, now I would like to get on with the point of this blog. By the way, in a previous blog, I mentioned the boomerang style of writing. An idea that seems completely unrelated is thrown way out there only to return to hit the reader right between the eyes later on.
Source Booksellers is an independent store on Cass Avenue in Detroit owned by the gracious and knowledgeable Ms. Janet Jones. She invited Thomas Marsh and me, who she loved calling the “two Toms”, to appear for a book discussion last Sunday. These appearances are still very new to us, and we didn’t know what to expect. We were prepared to expound on the book and to share our insights.
Not so fast, two Toms!
What we found out through Janet and the others in attendance was the story of their experiences. Our book is just the catalyst for opening the conversation. People want to reminisce; people want to share; people want to be the source of unlimited ideas and concerns. Just as the Mississippi River begins gathering water in Minnesota, it continues to gather more water from inlets and streams on its journey south to the Gulf of Mexico. The mighty Mississippi would not be so mighty without additional water being added to it along the way.
From all these sources of information coming from the Source Booksellers, we learned the meaning of the “mouth” of the river. This store and all these people are tremendous re-sources [sic] who expelled or mouthed this knowledge to the group. Thank you, Janet and attendees! Now I finally understand the two major parts of a river.
Cover photo credit: www.metrotimes.com
