How Could Drops of Water Know Themselves to Be a River?

The above is a quote from the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who also wrote in his beautiful, meditative book, “Wind, Sand and Stars“:

“Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious.  Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.”

While some of my readers, I know, are enduring blizzards, lashed with rain storms and knee-deep in snowdrifts, our island has lapsed into a somnolent drought. The days are long, quiet and unusually warm for early February. The hills are sere. Grey clouds occasionally drift overhead, offering nothing but a little shade from the sun. The mockingbird sings determinedly in the hush of midday. Our neighbor insists on making bonfires early in the morning. This morning, after I filled the bird bath, three white winged doves arrived and settled down, resting in the cool water. The National Water Commission is locking off water at nights and in many areas, all through the day. There is a “high pressure ridge.”

We need rain, and plenty of it.

A day trip to YS River and YS Falls in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica yesterday was, to say the least, refreshing.  Here are a few of the photos I took there. All of my photos are posted in my photostream on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bananakatie/ and there is a link to my Flickr account in the right sidebar of this blog.

Two things I appreciated about YS Falls (apart from the beauty of the place): environmentally friendly composting toilets (we should have more of these in rural areas); and the Gift Shop brews a mean cup of coffee – good, strong Blue Mountain.

Related links:

http://www.ysfalls.com

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g552076-d1016794-Reviews-YS_Falls-St_Elizabeth_Saint_Elizabeth_Parish_Jamaica.html YS Falls: Trip Advisor review

http://www.jamaicamix.com/JamaicaCultureAndHeritage/StElizabeth.html St. Elizabeth, Jamaica – history: jamaicamix.com

http://www.digjamaica.com/st_elizabeth St. Elizabeth: diGJamaica.com

https://petchary.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/p-s-happy-world-wetlands-day-february-2-2013/ Happy World Wetlands Day! petchary.wordpress.com

https://petchary.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/pollution-flowing-from-land-to-sea-the-un-caribbean-environment-programme-part-1/ Pollution flowing from land to sea: The UN Caribbean Environment Programme, Part 1: petchary.wordpress.com

https://petchary.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/5498/ Two new environmental films by independent filmmaker Esther Figueroa: petchary.wordpress.com

The sunlight of late afternoon on the YS River (no crocodiles there, but the YS is a tributary of the much larger, swampier Black River, where crocodiles abound).

 

 

The upper part of the falls. I gave this photo an “antique” look, like an old postcard I once saw. But then, the falls were bigger.

 

There are many deep bathing pools. And yes, the water really IS that color… in all the photographs.

 

Fern on rock. This rock is usually covered with water.

The YS Falls consists of seven levels of waterfalls.

Rapid waters of the YS River flowing.

One of my favorite songs on Paul Simon’s album “The Rhythm of the Saints” is “Cool, Cool River.” This photo reminds me of that.

Water dripping from the rocks.

The brownish rocks in the foreground are usually covered in water.

Dry leaves in cool water.