Adieu...

This river that we walk along is ancient and it has been here long before any of us.

It's floods and droughts, the salmon who've lived and died in her swirls and riffles,

the bear and cougar who roam along her banks, are all part of her story.

But I have only known this river for a minute.

It's a place where our dogs love to run...

The fields above her shores are a place I dream of living...

...a place where farmers used to keep their cattle...

This land has been bought and sold and now serves us as a wide open and lovely park...

During these crisp autumn nights and sun kissed shortened days, 

we walk through the maples shedding their summer dress.

...and peak into the beginning of the dying days before winter falls upon us...

The salmon have begun to swim upstream and with it the fly fishermen try their hand

at catching and releasing...

I am mesmerized by the sound of the reel and the quiet flash of the line...

These will be some of my last days of the year down here.

Although it is one of the most beautiful places to walk, the salmon will slowly start to

die after spawning and leave their rotting carcases on the beach.

This is something that some dogs (like mine and Regina's) can't resist and so

we stay on other paths where this can be avoided.

For now, for today, we soak in the beauty and the quiet that is

The River.