Henson Creek

The rushing waters of Henson Creek were misty. Above them was a watery haze, and the liquid that flowed through the gleamy rocks was buckling, swerving, mellowing and then set on fire again as it bent with the dips and swerves of its bed. The air was cool as we walked to the river’s edge. I watched Keiti (S.B.’s 12 year old lab-boxer mix) sniff the ground along the riverbank, and dip her pink tongue into the coolness of the water. I wanted to drink from its lushness too, but then thought better of it, for sure it would make my human digestive system sick. I felt a resentment rise up and a longing. When CAN we be able to drink straight from the rivers and creeks that run around us again? I suspect never, or not for a very long time. It took just over 100 years to completely pollute these waters with God-knows what forms of man-made chemicals and minerals meant to stay deep in the earth. Barring a miracle (which I keep open to as a possibility) it would take at least twice that long to amend what we have done.

S.B. was looking on the ground at some rocks as I followed Keiti towards a narrow trail along the water’s edge. The brush around us grew thick and more jungly. I felt transported to Hawaii, as the air was moist and warm and sweet, and all around us there was an illuminated greenness that the sun shone through. I could see the veins inside every leaf and the sparkling of every drop of mist from the noisy creek.

And then we stopped a bit upstream from where I could see S.B. was still crouching. The waterways converged up there, and swirled around a little islet where a tall lumbering tree—I do not know the name of it—sprawled, drooping its thick branches towards the water, as if constantly blessing it. In some spots the water was no deeper than the rocks it flowed around. The sight gave me hope, made my blood swirl in kind in a rush. I felt an infusion of raw energy.

God’s country. Here the signs of our contamination are ever subtle--a tiny candy wrapper buried beneath the fallen leaves, undrinkable water tainted by unknown sources. And still, nature at this place calls out.

Breathe! Breathe me in!

 

photo by dpreview.com on Google Images