The Creek

There is a creek that flows through the property where I work.......in places there are rocks and drop offs
at times it is narrow and deep, and in places wide and shallow.  There are spots where the water flows quickly and in others it is quiet still pools.  I love that creek!  In the six years that I have taught at my job,
I have seen that creek flow out of her  banks, raging with mud and debris.......I have seen her dry to puddles and mere trickles.

Every day that I go to work, it never fails......I look at the creek to see what is going on,  what stage of life is she  in today.  I have watched spring flowers blossom on its banks, autumn leaves fall and drift in its stream, and snow flakes swirl as icicles hung from tree branches and her rocks glassy with icy water.

Today, I looked at the creek......she is not at her fullest, rain has not been plentiful and there are places where her bed is dry......the stones dull from lack of moisture.  She is so much like our lives........sometimes peaceful and beautiful.......sometimes raging and angry.  She is in need now of rain
so that she may flow and nourish.  I have spent a great deal of time giving these past few days, and I think I am like the creek........I need a little rain, some nourishment of my own so that I may flow and nourish again.  I think this time of year, we all began to feel the drought.......so it's important that we slow down, just as the creek does when the rain doesn't fall.

Looking at that creek, allows me to be in the now.  I look at the colors of the jagged rocks,  the trees jutting up from her banks,  hear the sound of the water as it flows across the rocks........it is easy to not think of time.......she is timeless.......she flows over and around,  patiently carving her path, knowing her destiny and always moving toward it.    She has taught me much these past six years,   soothed and calmed, showing beauty and ugliness, accepting the flow of tears from many of my students,  and teaching many of them, just as she has me.......to live like water.......always flowing toward our destiny.