Water

What is it about water that tends to catch our eye?  Water can be powerful, yet serene.  Some days it may be sheer as glass, and others looks like someone has picked up the river or lake bed and shaken it.  Water can create comfort, fear, peace, awe.  It also provides both entertainment and sustainment.

Hagg Lake

For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to the water.  Whether it be the river that runs through my hometown, the ocean an hour away, or the lake I would visit annually states away - I could never stay away.  When I was younger, it was the pleasure and activity water provided that attracted me.  As I have grown older, I still enjoy the opportunity to "play" in the water, but the attraction has grown much stronger.

 The way the waves crash gently onto the shore, or when it is really quiet and you can hear a fish jump out of the water in the distance - the way sound travels across an open lake or when the water is really clear and you can see all the way to the bottom.  I've learned to notice and appreciate these things.







I love the way that water catches the reflection and mimicks the colors of the landscape surrounding it.  It is difficult to not appreciate the beauty once you learn to really see it.

Multnomah Falls

I had the opportunity to hike up Multnomah Falls, just east of Portland, earlier this afternoon.  While standing on this bridge, I realized just how powerful water can be.  Although the day was hot and the air was still elsewhere, standing on the bridge the atmosphere was cool, and there was a wind blowing over the walkway.  The water was coming off the cliff with so much force that it literally was creating its own wind.

Unfortunately, too often this power gets the best of us.  When people fail to heed this power, lives are at stake.  This power truly awes me.  The fact that something that can be so gentle at times and yet take lives at others is hard to fathom.

I am curious to know what other aspects of nature people tend to overlook and not give them the appreciation they really deserve....what things do I myself take advantage of and not take the time to appreciate?  That is something I will have to think about for awhile.