Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay by Helen Chappell For as long as I can remember, and up to this very day, I’ve found great spiritual peace in watching water. The contemplation of that other world, both beautiful and unknown, has always intrigued me. If you want to meditate, lie face down on a dock and peer over the side into the other world below the surface. After a while, you can enter a hypnotic state and have a natural history lesson at the same time. To peer into brackish water, like a
creek or a river, is one meditation. Another is to lie on a grass bank and observe the f lora and fauna of a freshwater stream. Having a stick to poke at passing leaves and prod at crayfish is deeply satisfying, both for a child and for an adult showing a child how to pass some tradition along. A tradition that doesn’t involve video games and cheap plastic crap, I might add curmudgeonly. There’s something to be said for the observation of water for
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