the falls

i am a quiet blipper.  i walk alone over beaches, through fields, along streams.  here i find my inspiration and my imagery.  today….  well, it just didn't happen that way.

i left the house to blip, wearing my rubber boots, heading for the stream.  as i got to the trail head, along came what appeared to be a newly-in-love couple, so intertwined i wondered how they could walk.  i hung back and let them go ahead of me.  the starflowers had fallen.  new white bunchberry flowers had taken their place.  soon i was off the trail, on my belly, losing track of the time.  i reentered reality hearing the lovebird's voices as they headed back down the trail.  i would be alone at the falls and the quiet pool it fell into.  back on the trail, i listened to the song of a hermit thrush.  these woods are my symphony hall.  

i got to the falls as the last of the sun was hitting the rocks.  to get a close shot, i needed to clamor over some mossy boulders, crouch against a rock wall for balance and tuck myself up into the falls.  back in the "zone", i was mesmerized by the water and the light.  the sound of the falls only added to the feeling of isolation from the rest of the world.  when i finally heard the laughter, it was too late.  i turned around to see two naked (rather "senior") women gingerly dipping their toes in the frigid water with a third undressing behind them.  here i was wedged in the rocks above the pool (holding a camera i might add), without an exit strategy.  the longer i waited, the more awkward i thought it would be.  when i heard a particularly loud round of laughter, eyes to the ground, i went and picked up my camera bag lying amidst their discarded clothing.  perhaps they saw me.  perhaps not.  i don't think it mattered a bit to them.

it was time for me to head home.  too many people for one day.  i walked up the hill from the pool and was turning the corner when along came a young family and then some.  i thought for a second, should i say something about what lay ahead?  no…  it's the rule of nature.  you don't intervene.  so i smiled and nodded as we passed on the trail.  some stories are best left to the imagination.