The Eagle Valley Historical Photo Gallery

ON THE NECESSARY WISDOM OF ELDERS

Sudden change even a child can see. It is the slow, hard to perceive
changes, that require the experienced eye and acquired wisdom of the
elder.

A wise eye may see that a certain bird species fails to return in spring; it
may see when a new species of weed pulls into town and sets up shop;
or when a small stream or creek runs dry in August, whereas a decade
ago it still delivered reliable water for crops until the fresh new rains of
fall.

The scientist studies, gets paid, and walks away. But the wisdom of the
elder by its very nature stays put, and like a tree with deep roots, is more
likely to stand its ground and protect the land of which it is a part.

One of the first lessons of the young should be the need to safeguard
this wisdom of elders, for that is what in turn safeguards their own fu-
ture, and their children’s future. Likewise, one of the tasks of the older
generation is not to get stuck in the tight jeans purchased from the cute
teenager at the big-city mall. It must learn again to move proudly with,
like the dignified ridge-top stonepine that has seen perhaps a thousand
winters or more, the slower, deeper, and much more resonant drum beat
of wisdom and great age.

Please visit my picture-poems.com MOUNTAIN WATER print gallery Above is a set of recent flowing water images. (Mouseover for TITLES & CONTROLS!)

I might just mention here that, following the simple, basic ethical principle, First, do no harm, I never use cars or jeeps or or snowmachines. Instead, I do everything on foot, bike or ski. I think this in a deep and direct way affects my work, and how I see and experience the world generally. So know thaty all the photos collected here were approached on foot -- including all the in between spaces -- sometimes involving journeys of weeks, or even months.

I would not want to work any other way . . .