WALK SOFTLY
Walk softly, lest a careless foot
Knock from the spider's web the jewel of dew
That took all night to grow
Large enough to split the slanting light
into its purest parts,
Along the edges of blades of grass,
In the early morning sun.
Walk softly, lest in your haste
You miss a thousand things of beauty
That could please your eye
In tiny places and tiny times,
Patterns hidden or even in plain view
That, in your rushing by, you leave to fade
into a grey environmental blur,
Without seeing or understanding,
Or feeling.
(Excerpt from a poem by D.M. Baird)
Once again we on MV Sea Lion awoke to the early morning sun, greeted this daybreak by an awe-inspiring view of Mount Hood looming over the valley of the Columbia River. In the past few days we had traveled over but a small segment of the route of Lewis and Clark. Yet we had gained at least some appreciation of the anguish and gnawing hardships that this party of explorers had withstood through their journey of more than two years. More important, though, we could delight in the excitement of the spectacular vistas they encountered and which inspired them to continue; their success at finding a path to the Pacific Ocean; and their pride in the many cultural, geographical and biological discoveries they had made.
Walk softly, lest a careless foot
Knock from the spider's web the jewel of dew
That took all night to grow
Large enough to split the slanting light
into its purest parts,
Along the edges of blades of grass,
In the early morning sun.
Walk softly, lest in your haste
You miss a thousand things of beauty
That could please your eye
In tiny places and tiny times,
Patterns hidden or even in plain view
That, in your rushing by, you leave to fade
into a grey environmental blur,
Without seeing or understanding,
Or feeling.
(Excerpt from a poem by D.M. Baird)
Once again we on MV Sea Lion awoke to the early morning sun, greeted this daybreak by an awe-inspiring view of Mount Hood looming over the valley of the Columbia River. In the past few days we had traveled over but a small segment of the route of Lewis and Clark. Yet we had gained at least some appreciation of the anguish and gnawing hardships that this party of explorers had withstood through their journey of more than two years. More important, though, we could delight in the excitement of the spectacular vistas they encountered and which inspired them to continue; their success at finding a path to the Pacific Ocean; and their pride in the many cultural, geographical and biological discoveries they had made.
