A stream side chill this campervan morning. The flowing, deep brown peaty ‘Water of Ae’ in front of me, swollen by a night of heavy downpours. Moss covered birch and beech cling to the riverside. A thin mist rises from Brownmoor and Wood Hill behind me. The air is heavy with moisture, turning to fine misty rain and then disappearing as quickly as it came. Greying white heavy clouds hang overhead threatening more rain. The sound is that glorious sound of flowing water passing over rock, babbling, frothing, swirling then returning to flow and of course birdsong, a woodpecker and a distant cuckoo. The constant wonder and mesmerising nature of nature. The midges are out, but not too bothersome. A chilled day of photographs, walks and waterside meditations yesterday. The well know environmentalist and later proponent of the great Dunbar born naturalist John Muir said :
“ We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.”
That really sinks in as you sit and watch water glide pass, surrounded by nature and nothing else. And the great man himself John Muir wrote :
“ Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.”
One of the few things I retained from my school boy geography ( I do love all things maps and geography) were the three stages of a river, the young, middle aged and the old river. As I sit and contemplate here, taking a course in good water and air, I am embracing that part of the river that resonates with me. I love the power of the young stage, fast flowing cascades and erosion, waterfalls and energy, but this morning I am soaking up the middle aged.
In his poem ‘In praise of water’ John O’Donohue writes :
Water: voice of grief, Cry of love, In the flowing tear.
Water: vehicle and idiom Of all the inner voyaging That keeps us alive.
Blessed be water Our first mother.
That’s how it feels this morning. Kind of at peace immersed in nature, reflecting in stages in life and the river and what resonates and enjoying it all. I have a connection with water, rivers, lochs, the sea and a peace of mind the descends when I am close to it, as I am sure do many others. Possibly the cancerian in me. So off to soak up more nature, water and to drum. Lovely days people.
“ When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” Ansel Adams.
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