Last November, I posted a digital story called A Mind in the Forest, which was my initial foray into using art, soul, memory and a day trip in the cause of the great old forests of my home territory in the central Cascade Mountains of Oregon.
About ten days ago, Dave Stone, President of Friends of Douglas-fir National Monument, took my husband Peter and me up Quartzville Creek, the spine of the proposed area to be set aside as a national monument.
It was early February, misty, a bit foggy, not really cold—pretty much what you’d expect of the winter forest. It had rained the week before, and all the creeks were packed down, full, and overflowing with running water; so beautiful all I did was place my iPhone tripod at random on a log and take video. I couldn’t miss.
In this video, I talk about and show my mother’s ecstatic nature because that’s what I felt—over the top joy, my lungs full of oxygen rich air, my ears full of the sound of running water.
I also took some still photos, so here is a small portfolio.
I post this for your pleasure, but if you are so moved to donate, please mention my story. Thanks. http://www.douglasfirnationalmonument.org
Lovely!
David—thanks!
As you say so beautifully, it is for me, and for all of us! Thank you for your loving sharing of this wonderful setting.
Bonnie,
This is our home territory, isn’t it? So important to take care of! Thanks for your words.
Who is it for? For anyone who understands that wild beauty can teach us something important, if we’re willing to listen — if we’re not too proud or busy to sit still until time shifts a little, wild beauty can save us.
Lloyd, Our book discussion around the Greenwood obviously has gone deep. Amazing how these currents work.
Thank you
What a refreshing journey through this beautiful part of our Pacific Northwest
Your photography is like being there in person. Nature at it’s best caught masterfully through your camera lens
Sandra, Thanks so much for understanding what I was trying to communicate. 🙂
Fantastic, Sandy. This is a wonderful video and script. It should inspire so many to move the monument proposal forward. The video above the river shows water that is so vivid and so much a part of Oregon streams that have not been degraded by clearcutting nor poisoned from aerial spraying. I’m on board with this and will support the monument work. Going to make a donation NOW!
This is really beautiful Sandee. And really important. Hope this goes far and wide to touch many people in to clean out their ears with the sounds of natural waters.
Wonderfully photographed and written, Sandy — you nailed it! I’m sending it to my friends back East, as well as to my daughter who is an environmental lawyer and may not yet be aware of this effort.
Gene
Thanks so much, Gene!
“Water lovers, people like me who will drive a long way into the winter woods to purify their ears with the sound of wild water”….what a perfect description for those of us who are deeply attracted to being in our natural world and part of the reason why – our inner purification and realignment with all things complexly natural. So beautifully written and shot Sandy!!! So personal and universal.
Thanks so much, Bev! Fellow lover of the Cascadia wildlands…
Beautiful piece, wise story telling, and heart-felt homage to the natural world too often taken for granted. Thanks for the uplift!
Thanks so much, Michael!