Why do I ask myself why?

It takes me 1.75 hours to cut my grass and that is my alone with my thoughts time. So once a week I ponder the heck about life's little problems while no one is around to bother me. A couple of hours ago I built a fire and sat by my little river for a while. About 65 years ago my family would rent a cabin about 30 miles down stream from my current house but the cabin was on the opposite side of the river. I found myself trying to come up with a good reason why both dwellings were on opposite sides of the same river. The obvious reasons of a railroad track and the little village were there but I know there must be something more. I'm only 72 so there should be plenty of time left to figure it out.
Thanks for listening.
Jerry