The Water of Cottonwood Creek Trickling Through the Snow
Water IS Life!
Honor the water today (and everyday!). The theme for World Water Day 2021 is ‘Valuing Water’. Each time you pour a glass from the pitcher, make a cup of tea, boil and egg, turn on the tap, flush your toilet, take a moment to value the water.
This morning as I mixed my ‘tea’ of Chinese wellness herbs with warm water, I thanked not only the water in my mug, but the water that sustained the plants as they grew and the ocean waters across which they travelled. I thanked the water in which I cooked my oatmeal and the water the helped grow those grains. As I write, I’m aware that I missed thanking the water that was required to make the dishes from which I eat. Look around you and consider for a moment the role of water in everything. Water is indeed life!
Gaia’s waters are connected. Streams to rivers. Rivers to lakes and oceans. Oceans to one another. The water that flows through each of us, connects us to Mother Earth and to one another. Water IS indeed life!
Last week, I sat with the waters of Cottonwood Creek near my home. In preparation for joining others to celebrate and honor water, I asked the waters ‘what shall I say?’ about you, my favorite body of water. Water’s response came in the form of the poem below. Flow with her wisdom!
I FLOW WITH THE SEASONS
No matter where you are,
Without regard to what you do,
Or even how you be,
I am the water of a nearby mountain stream.
I flow with the seasons.
As the last aspen and cottonwood leaves fall along my banks
in the crisp autumn breezes,
I flow gently along
Knowing that even with the coming freeze
I will flow beneath the ice and snow that covers me.
I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.
I flow with the seasons.
Gentle and restful
Beneath the frigid surface
I silently – to your ears – honor the darkness
And winter’s oft unrecognized beauty.
I am the water of a stream in the woods.
I flow with the seasons.
As winter breaks her icy grasp, I surface from time to time
Preparing for the spring melt, my offering of greater flow.
Yet preparation is not required
For as the trees begin to bud new leaves
I am here, ever in tune with these changes in the ecosystem of life.
I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.
I flow with the seasons.
As my frozen waters melt I flow,
Extending beyond my banks, claiming whatever space I need
For the water that flows beyond my usual bounds.
This is when I speak my fullest voice.
I do so with joy for the verdant flora that thrives in my wake.
Leaves of the trees shadow me and the creatures that come to drink:
Families of deer, a bear, lynx, mountain lion,
An American piper bobbing at water’s edge.
Even your pup who comes to take a drink of my cool water
as you, Dear Human, drink in my beauty through your ears and eyes.
Can you taste me?
I am water in the constant, yet ever changing, mountain stream.
I flow with the seasons.
Even as I flow I notice your presence, your reverence,
Your recognition for water’s music in the symphony of life.
I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.
I flow with the seasons.
Allow awareness of my rhythm to permeate your being.
Feel me in your bones and the flow of the veins in your body,
Breaking through the oh so human impulse to deny
These cycles of life.
I am water, moving from peak to valley to clouds and back.
I flow with the seasons.
Will you?
Water, like all of nature, the seen and unseen life, the flora, the fauna, deserve to not only experience our expressions of gratitude for the life they sustain, they each and all deserve a voice and to be heard as we go about making decisions in daily life. May we listen! May we hear! May it be so. And, So It Is.
The Water of Cottonwood Creek Flowing Free in the Morning Light