siskiyou 9 comments
Although I’m now in Arizona for the winter, I’ll be putting up a few more posts about this year’s journey through the west. There’s just too much good stuff to leap past. There will be some Arizona posts coming up too, but I’m just getting settled here, so it may be a week or two yet.
Growing up, I spent summers on the shores of the Ottawa River – one of the largest rivers in eastern Canada. Over many years, Don and I paddled our canoes on the countless lakes, rivers and creeks of Ontario and Quebec. It may well be the canoehead in me, but when traveling, I am repeatedly drawn to those places where waters flow. By rivers, I usually feel the greatest sense of well-being. Perhaps it’s the sound of waves or water rushing through rocks, or maybe it’s the wildlife that I find there – the mergansers, the herons, the dipper birds, and the deer and river otter. Whatever, it all works together to create those places where I can find peace.
The Siskiyou National Forest of southwest Oregon is where many of my favourite rivers flow. The Rogue, the Chetco, and the north fork of the Smith among others. Visiting in the autumn seems special to me. I know these rivers from several visits made over the past decade. Each time, there have been few or no other people around. Although water levels are lower, and the speed of the flow may be less than at other times of the year, the waters of many lakes and rivers is always less turbid by autumn. The cooler weather often causes the algae to stop growing, and most of the suspended organic matter tends to drop to the stream or lake bed.
I sit by these rivers, watching golden leaves float and spin like tiny rafts, rushing through between rapid-smoothed boulders. Along the shores, the cool, moist autumn air revives mosses and lichens on bark and stone alike. The trees stand silent, like sentinels, clinging to rock as they overarch the rushing waters. From time to time, the shrill, bubbling call of an ouzel ricochets down a narrow mountain canyon. I smile as I watch them dive into the frigid torrent, running and even flying just beneath the surface in their quest for food. Before long, I’m feeling quiet inside – relaxed and composed – and ready to begin moving forward once more
9 Responses to 'siskiyou'
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Beautiful photos of a place that is dear to my heart. Wasn’t able to visit there this fall. Thanks so much for these photos.
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You articulate experiences like no one else, Bev. It’s funny, as I was reading what you wrote about how the water’s organic load changes with the seasons, I thought about how incredibly valuable is your ability to describe so thoroughly something that many would think mundane. Writers whose skills at “putting you there” are so key to their fiction are not writing fiction, at all; they are writing about something real….they are just placing it in another context. I was in Oregon when I read about the Siskiyou; you took me there. And about the car…I explained.
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robin and am – Both of you will know well of the rivers which I wrote about in this post. There are several, and they are all special. A trip through the west must always include some time spent along at least one or two rivers in the Siskiyou.
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john – Thanks so much for commenting on my writing and how it puts you there in the Siskiyou. I’ve found that one of the hardest aspects of writing is in remembering to describe the things we all take for granted. It’s the details that help us to “be there” for a moment.
I read your note about the car. How frustrating after finally deciding on a replacement for your other one. -
I read your poem over at qarrtsiluni and really liked it. Thought I’d come poke around your blog, and I just want you to know how much I have enjoyed reading your posts and looking at your photographs of your travels.
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James – Thanks for stopping by and taking a look around. I just visited your blog. Liked the Pomegranate Surface Features poem!
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Like James, I was impressed by your qarrtsiluni poem, and came to visit.
I am moved and impressed by your writing and photos. The water has great power to centre and soothe, doesn’t it? I wish you well for the end of the year, and will be back here.
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Lucy – Thanks! I visited your site, Box Elder, and particularly enjoyed the photos in the post Such a Perfect Day. Wow.
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Dont apologise for fenlieg things Bev! I just want to give you a massive hug. It would be such a difficult time! Im sure you have a million fantastic memories to call upon with your mum when you start fenlieg low. You can do it. You are a fighter! Take it a day at a time lovely lady. Big virtual hugs to you and my thoughts are with you xxxx
A beautiful meditation on the serenity and peace on the banks of a river. That sound as it flows and winds out of the mountains and through the canyons is like the blood coursing through our own veins. It’s a reminder of something simple and profound.