No matter what holiday tradition you follow it seems that this time of year, a wave of messages to acquire more “stuff”, bombards most of us. It always makes me ponder the question of ownership. It seems to me that ultimately, one of the few things that any of us really own is our relationships. Whether with our families, our family of friends or a higher power taking stock of those relationships and celebrating them is what I urge you to do through these holidays. That is what I’ll be trying to do.
As icicles begin their gravity driven drool from my eves I ponder all the wonders that water has brought me. Riding on its back down the Middle Fork of the Salmon, tongues effervescent with Cutthroat trout and hot spring minerals, foggy mornings on Superior, an audience of otters to dance excitedly at the site of two foot long dancing Rainbows on the Yellowstone, Dahl porpoises surfing the wake of our shuttle in Alaska, Orcas chasing seals under my kayak, trolling up 4 ft Cuda’s in Belize, Bonito in Honduras, Tarakihi in Doubtful sound, catching a ride on a stingray in the flats of the Everglades, the crack of sea ice under my feet on Leimfjord in Denmark and the amber goodness of Homer brew on 10,000 year old glacial ice…..it’s a waterful world and I’ve only scratched the surface for a heartbeat in time.
Alaska