Friday, May 3, 2013

I stopped on my way into Florida today at my favorite "hello" and "Goodbye" spot, a side of the road access to the Sante Fe River.  The Sante Fe is a spring fed river and runs crystal clear except when there have been hard rains, then it runs brown with Tannin water from the deeper darker rivers of Florida.  There was no one there, it's a workday and raining.  Lulu and I hopped out and took a walk along the river, smelling that good Florida smell, watching the ospreys watch us, and greeted by an oddly out of place pair of white ducks who followed us along the bank.  Somehow I breathe deeper when I hit the Georgia lowcountry and the back roads of Florida. 

I bent down to run my hands through the water and was surprised by how warm it was.  I had momentarily forgotten that spring water is always 72 degrees.  When it's 98 outside it is icy cold but on days like today when it is only 65, it feels warm and welcoming.  I thought briefly about stopping at the local state park and taking a short tubing trip but the rains started again and we ran for the car. 

There is something wonderful about the constancy of the spring water.  Always the same while the world around it changes.  It is not the water that changes but our external experience of it.  Much like love.  The Love that created and sustains this universe is always present, unchanging, to be counted on.  It is us, me, who changes and moves.  I think I'm going to start thinking of the Sante Fe when I think about the Love that lives in this world.  That is something I can wrap my head and heart around.

1 comment:

  1. I've paddled that river. It is as you say, and it is a constant feast for the heart. Thank you for the reminder, not just of the Santa Fe, but of the constancy and true nature of love.

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