Dust off an old college lit textbook, and you’ll find that rivers have been symbols for many things. Writers have made rivers represent the slow, unstoppable passage of time. Raging floods stand for the power of nature. Sometimes, the lush vegetation and the animals nurtured by rivers symbolize life itself. That’s a symbol St. Mary Parish people can identify with. We work on the rivers and bayous. We fish and go boating there. We hunt near them. Occasionally, we fight them. We’ve had many chances recently to think about the role the Teche, the Atchafalaya, Bayou Boeuf, Bayou Chene and other ...