Settling

When I lived for a few years beside the slow-moving Wood River in Rhode Island, I sometimes stirred up the water in the shallows just to see it slowly settle back to its usual clearness, and now, occasionally, when my life seems blurred and unsettled, I still think of how, given time, that river always returned to its accustomed stillness. I guess I need to give my so-called problems time to smooth down and settle, like the river always did. I sometimes need to do nothing but sit on the ‘bank’ of seemingly bad situations and let them loosen and slowly resolve themselves. All too often I only stir up the problems by making anxious attempts to fix things, when sitting in stillness might be a better way. Storms always, in due course, lessen and sail off in front of the sunshine, and my difficulties might do the same if not whipped up more by my fretfulness. Perhaps I should see a problem as simply a short-lived fuss and splash in the nonstop Wood River of life, and look with confidence to see things settle and sparkle once again. 

I thought of this today because, this morning, Delycia and I floated once again on the always loose and relaxed Wood River, not far from where I used to live. As always, the river seemed absolutely settled and serene. Wherever I looked, I saw tranquility, even in gangs of water striders skating speedily across the surface.  Below is a slide show of some of the quiet scenes we saw .

And here is our guide, Delycia, relaxed and settled …

and here is a brief video of her, leading the way …

… and a little poem from several years ago …

ONE SETTLING DAY 
 
One day,
it seemed like all of life 
started to settle down 
into a well-rounded society. 
There was an easygoing system 
in all things,
and all was strange 
in a spectacular way.
It was as if the spirit 
of spring 
was felt even in struggles,
and even sicknesses 
started to have 
the sunshine of summer
inside them. 
On this day, 
any shallowness in life 
had a freeing spirit inside it, 
and suffering was sometimes superior
to happiness 
in the wisdom it shared. 
All the people
felt like satellites
circling through the universe,
and satisfaction was so sticky 
no one could escape from it.