Monday, September 5, 2011

Stream on the Ranch - Changing Course

I went for a walk before breakfast today and stopped alongside a branch of the stream that runs through the ranch:

The stream is an offshoot of the Yampa River, which apparently carries quite a sediment load from up higher in the mountains.
The Yampa River is a free-flowing river, such that it changes its course when it floods, sometimes quite dramatically.  This movement of the river bed allows for the generation of new forests and wetlands, some right here on the Carpenter Ranch.
I was thinking about how the flooding river changing course could be a metaphor for life, how sometimes we are forced, or allowed, to alter our plans or activities based on incoming influences beyond our control.  Sometimes these changes are welcome, other times they feel like an imposition.  In the second case we might do well to look for what new possibilities or opportunities arise, as the new wetlands can be fertile ground for new growth.

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