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Melissa and I recently traveled to the Oregon Coast to spend a week with family at Tierra Del Mar (which in English translates to Land of the Ocean). The first night we stayed in Biggs Junction. On day two we stopped for a hike in the Columbia River Gorge. We hiked a five mile loop visiting many waterfalls and parts of the 2017 Eagle Creek fire.
I had driven through the Gorge on I-84 a few times since the fire. However, it was not until this trip on our drive home (we took Washington State Highway 14 which follows the north side of the Columbia River) that I was able to take in the immensity of the fire.
I wondered if I behave this way toward our natural resources and climate change? I hike (drive) in water daily: washing my face, making tea, cooking, showering, watering the garden. I use water, but do I see the immensity of my use? Do I realize how precious water is to my physical existence, allowing me to think, feel, and love?
I recall a Thich Nhat Hanh gatha I first noticed in Spanish. I know a few Spanish words and in this writing, agua, Tierra, and gratitud, caught my attention. I found the gatha later in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, peace is every breath: a practice for our busy lives:
“Water Flows from high mountain sources.
Water runs deep in the Earth.
Miraculously, water comes to us.
I am filled with gratitude.” [1]
2.
Spilling in my hands
water’s sparkling gemstones
I splash sleepy eyes
In a mist of blue
above green waves of sea-foam
charred water falls
3.
Photo Gallery: Water Falls -Columbia River gorge.
Click on any image to view in the gallery. Use the side arrows to cycle through the images. To exit the gallery, click on the “X” in the upper right hand corner.
[1] – Thich Nhat Hanh, peace is every breath, (HarperOne; Reprint Kindle edition, 2011), pg. 12
