The second mind shift we need to make is to realize that a river is not just water. Moving water has the energy to carry many things within it. Naturally, the smaller and lighter the object, the easier it is to carry, and the faster the water is moving, the more it can propel. It’s no accident that the Mississippi’s nickname is the Big Muddy. Like all rivers, it picks up grains of sand and dirt with its motion, carrying them in suspension into the ocean. When the water slows down, it drops some of that sediment, with the bigger and heavier grains being deposited first.
