Rivers, as the Center of Life: My Collage for LMAC #209

Template by @shaka for LMAC #209

Rivers
The Yellow River. The Indus River. The Nile. Tigris Euphrates. Most of us learned when we were school children about these river systems as centers of early civilization. Even after the developments in transportation and agriculture of the Industrial Revolution, people still clustered around rivers. The map below shows parts of the world as they existed in 1832.

_{J.A. Johnson, Johnson's New Illustrated Atlas... Public domain.*}

I grew up in a small community that came into existence along the Hudson River in the seventeenth century. First the Dutch, then the English made settlements by the river. How did they arrive at these settlements? They traveled from New York Harbor north, to the shores of the Hudson.

Henry Hudson was the very first European to make that journey, although he did not 'discover' the river. That distinction is given to Giovanni da Verrazzano. But before Hudson and Verrazzano, the river had been well used by Native Americans. As a matter of fact, I believe the road I lived on during my childhood followed the path of an early Native American trail.

Hudson River and My Childhood Home

_{Derived from a map by Ɱ. Public domain}

Of the several rivers referenced on this page, the Hudson, at 315 miles, comes in as the shortest.

Waterfront, Hudson River, at Wappinger, NY, USA

_{Wapphist. CC 4.0 license}

While rivers are used for transportation and facilitate commerce, they also are used for recreation. In the picture above, people are relaxing on the shore of the Hudson. Leisure boats float in the water. As you can see, the Hudson can offer some spectacular scenes. As a matter of fact, it inspired a group of painters which, collectively, was called 'The Hudson River School'.

Another historic river on another continent--the Danube--traverses ten European countries. This majestic river offers recreational opportunities to locals and to people from all over the world. It's hard to think of a river that has inspired more romantic notions than the Danube.The river is 1771 miles long.

Boating on the Danube in Romania

_{Cazaresulina. CC 3.0 license}

Yet another river that has inspired legends, the Nile, has been called the longest river in the world, although this honor is disputed. It is, however, certainly the longest river in Africa. The Nile stretches for 4,100 miles, from the Mediterranean Sea to the shores of Lake Victoria. Along its path it passes through eleven countries. The Nile is used for commerce, transportation, agriculture and recreation. It's hard to imagine a river that has had more influence on the histories of Africa, Europe and the Middle East than the Nile.

Sightseeing Boat on the Nile, Aswan, Egypt

_{Gonzo Cat2. CC 4.0}

My Collage
For this week's collage I need to thank @muelli and @yaziris. The images they contributed to the LIL Gallery helped me to realize my idea. I also want to thank several contributors from Pixabay.

In addition to @shaka's template, these are the elements I used in my collage:

Sky
@muelli
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/8491

Pigeon
@yaziris
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7643

Man
@agmoore
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/8871

Water
@agmoore
Personal picture

Kayak
@agmoore
Personal picture

Air Balloon
Pixabay

Air Balloon
Pixabay

The collage started out rough :) Here's one of my first attempts. I was feeling around at this point with an approximate idea of where I wanted to go.

Then this came:

Then, after many intermediate steps, this:

I added the man on the balcony and the birds:

After more intermediate steps, I added the balloons and the kayak:

The gif took a few tries, but eventually I got everything in sync. I decided to end it with the man turning around and going indoors. A pictorial anecdote :)

LMAC and LIL

LIL is not only a valuable image resource for the Hive community, but is also a way for community members to participate in LMAC. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.

Every week we offer prizes to fifteen finalists in the contest, but it's not only the prizes people create for. I, for example, don't compete but spend hours giving vent to my imagination. Others in the community have developed the habit of 'speaking' through collage.

This week's contest has concluded. But a new contest will begin on Thursday, with a brand new template. Please join in the fun.

As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. I may not be an artist in the technical sense, but LMAC allows me to nurture my own unique artistic voice.

Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.