Answer:
The comparison suggests an easy, familiar, comforting and friendly experience.
Step-by-step explanation:
This is from the Mississippi Solo, a book by Eddy Harris. It is an account of a man's journey on a canoe from Minnesota to Louisiana down the Mississippi river.
He compares his time with the river to walking with a favorite niece or nephew. The comparison suggests an easy, familiar, comforting and friendly experience. .
The writer using personification by giving human qualities to the river shows a friendly connection:
"The river was like that to me, a comfortable buddy sharing a lazy day"