The day I made this photograph in the fall of 2005 on the outflow stream of Cady’s Falls, I saw things through my camera I’d never dreamed possible. I still looking through the opening that day created and continue to be amazed at what I see.
This lovely poem by Mary Oliver came our way this morning and I cannot resist leaving it here as well as it seems I could (or perhaps actually “do”) live forever in the magic of this stream:
Messenger
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
Still Learning To See 
So glad to see Oliver in the company of your amazing stream photograph–and, in a sense, we DO live forever through the natural world, which will survive us for at least 5 billion more years. Even then, we will become stardust–and this photograph looks so much like some of the Hubble pictures that I have chills. Thanks yet again.