The Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi said that ‘The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.' And sitting on the banks of this fine remote Irish mountain stream (small river), I was reminded of these very words as I photographed the scene after a recent photography workshop in Ireland's fine springtime countryside. For 30 minutes I enjoyed my own solitude, gazing on the fast flow of the fresh water and felt in awe of the scenery just here in front of me. I'm sure that the river banks must have been full of wildlife but I couldn't hear much over the constant sound of the flowing water.