This river has no ego by Tony Bellaver and Mary V. Marsh

A meditation on our need to control nature, this is a collaborative book with original poetry and images by Tony Bellaver and Mary V. Marsh. The making of this book has been a process of years of conversations while camping, backpacking and fly fishing. The close observation required for fly fishing reveals the interconnectedness of the river, trees, fish and insects. We reflect on our relationship to nature, the power and endurance of rivers, and our insignificance. We try to understand it through the lens of science and words. The river doesn’t care if we are here or not. We strive to see and respect the river, without naming or cultural construct. From our sketchbook drawings and poetry we developed the content and designed the format, and printed and assembled it collaboratively. The accordion structure allows the book to unfold in an uneven rhythm like a river. The maple burl and redwood veneer relate to trees around our favorite rivers of California. The salmon vertebrae shows one part of the cycle of life of the river. This river has no ego, no care, no consciousness of itself. To the sea it flows, over rocks of granite, down cascades of mist. Often turbid, sometimes placid, always moving. Water flows deeper, into rock and soil it cuts. Competition in the wilderness, process of evolution, defined and invented. Made of creeks, of lakes, to join into rivers. Blue, green, turbid, clear, 2 parts hydrogen, 1 part oxygen, water is chemical. Earth’s solvent.