Breath of Life
WORDS + PHOTO BY DAVID PU'U
H
ave you ever sat out in the lineup
early in the morning as the canyon
offshores blow and wonder about
the scents and flavors in the crisp
flow coming down from our Coastal
Mountain ranges?
I had been looking at our Northern
Hemisphere watersheds as a function of
a study on the affect of weather borne
radiation pollution. What I learned
inspired me to have a closer look at our
own watershed here where I live, right
next to the Ventura River, which feeds
into a break I swim almost daily when
shooting in the water.
We had just gotten our first dose
of snow. So up highway 33 I went, on
a beautiful fall afternoon. Fifty-seven
miles later I was there. The top of the
watershed that feeds life to the coastal
plain. Because you see, water is life. We
ourselves are water.
As I stood on a ridgeline high in the Los
Padres Forest near Reyes Peak, I recognized
the various scents I smell daily in the
sea. I saw the plants that birthed those. I
crunched the fresh snow underfoot while
I hiked with my camera and realized this
also was in that canyon breeze each day
in winter. It groomed the long lines of
northwest groundswell that swept ashore
each season and brought so much joy to
the ocean community.
Whenever we look at an action
designed to affect our ecosystem, whether
that be a positive or negative, we should
understand that all true health and
resolution is best created by affecting
positively what lies furthest upstream.
Shooting this frame, I was very
conscious of the beauty of fresh air and
clean water.
We all do well to be informed
regarding the health of our watersheds.
Out of that comes the breath of life.
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