Category: rivers

Breathing Deep, Sitting Quietly and Contemplating the Precious Stillness

by Gregorio Perez, posted in Environment, Hiking, Life, Nature, rivers

This past weekend the temps dropped to 22 degrees F. Why does 22 degrees in February feel colder than 22 degrees in December? It’s not obviously, but my thoughts about the cold certainly change as winter goes by. Mental toughness begins to fade as thoughts of spring germinate in my mind. Whatever the reason I felt cold sitting on the bank of my favorite creek in town. Maybe it was because I sacrificed a warm sitting spot out of the wind for a spot along the creek where I could hear the soft trickle of water passing beneath the ice. Sometimes you have to sacrifice physical comfort for mental comfort or spiritual comfort. It’s a little bit like spending time with someone who may not have long to live. It’s hard to see them suffer but compassion is stronger than our own discomfort. I know this creek well. It does feel like an elderly friend. I have studied it, waded through it, collected insects for science, and simply enjoyed its company for a long time. Some people simply see it as a beautiful old creek. But, I know its secrets. I know that it doesn’t hold too many insects. I’ll never know why that is for sure but I suspect it’s due to pesticide runoff from city residents and local farmers. Nobody wants to hear that though and I try not to think about it too much. I remember that Edward Abbey once said, “One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast….a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.” So here I am; breathing deep, sitting quietly and contemplating the precious stillness.

Tiny Victories

by Gregorio Perez, posted in Life, rivers
It was 46 degrees and the few inches of snow beneath my feet was soft and slushy.  The sky was typical; a Midwestern hazy blue.  The winter sun was low on the horizon and shining brightly just above the treetops. The birds seemed to be singing more melodically.  Were they happy about the warmth?  If I were a bird I suspect I would have been singing a happy tune on this beautiful day.  I was happy about breathing in some warm air for a change.  It didn’t burn my lungs; it felt soft.  I took a few deep breaths to soak it in.
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I was hiking to a place along the river where several large Sycamore trees stand.  In the Spring, Yellow-throated Warblers nest within their canopy.  I like to go there to listen for warblers and sit on the gravel bed on the inside bend of the river.  When I arrived at the bend I found one of the Sycamores laying across the river; a victim of natural erosion and an undercut bank. Beside the tree in the snow were three separate tracks made by a rabbit, goose and deer.  The deer had laid down along the river and melted the snow down to the gravel.  I put my pack chair down where the deer had laid.  I considered smoking a cigar.  I patted myself down looking for my lighter and soon realized I had forgotten it at home.  There would be no cigar today.
I work inside a Federal Prison.  I’ve worked there for twenty-two years.  It’s a good job and steady paycheck, but it’s starting to wear on me like the river wears on the bank beneath the old Sycamore trees.  Every year a little bit more sand washes out from beneath my roots.  One thing that has been bothering me recently is having to remove all my gear from my pack before carrying it into work the next day.  The gear I take into the woods is not allowed inside the prison.  Sometimes I forget to put things back in my pack before I head out on my next hike.  Sometimes I find myself sitting alongside a river silently cursing because I forgot to pack something.  It’s a really minor issue I know.  But the river of time is relentless and little things have a way of wearing you down in imperceptible ways.  But, I wasn’t ready to fall across the river.  I went to REI later that night and bought a new pack.  Problem solved.  It’s these tiny victories that I celebrate on a daily basis.

River notes and tea

by Gregorio Perez, posted in rivers

I am drawn to rivers.  The other day I was thinking about my teenage years when I used to head to the woods and build a fire along the River Raisin in the winter.  That was about seven miles from where I live today.  I’m still within walking distance to the river and it still calls to me.

One day last week I remembered how my friend Tom and I used to spend an entire day along the Au Sable River near Oscoda, MI fishing for Steelhead in the middle of winter.  We packed in fuel and a pack stove to heat up water to pour over our boots to warm up our feet and to make hot coffee.  It was miserably cold until we felt the tug of a Steelhead on the end of our line.  An adrenaline rush is all you need to keep you warm in the winter.  But if you’re not fishing for Steelies, hot coffee or tea will also do the job.

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This past weekend I decided to gear up and head to the river to spend some time there.  I took my journal to record my observations:

  • Robins are sipping water along the icy bank.
  • White-breasted Nuthatches are active here.
  • The sound of the river flowing by sounds nice.
  • Wood is snapping and breaking in the bitter cold.
  • The snow is soft and light.
  • Goldfinches are flying over but not stopping.
  • A dog is barking in the distance.
  • I hear bluebirds.
  • It’s mostly cloudy but the sky is intensely blue within the breaks.
  • It didn’t take long for the water to boil..maybe three minutes
  • Hot tea in a metal cup makes its own holder when you set it in the snow.
  • Downey Woodpeckers are always around.
  • I can hear a jet flying by.
  • It’s 20 degrees F.