The Meadow

I stared at the path. It was under a few inches of water, but there were "foot stones". For most of the way, that is. But they were largely under water too. I'd heard of snakes, and I was cautious. I decided against it and turned away, continuing forward on the tar road I'd been walking for so long.

The road had started off very wide, enough to accomodate a van both directions. But where I was now, it was just perhaps 5--6 feet in width. There were no annoying cars or motorbikes now: the tree fallen across the road ensured that. Even people on foot seemed to think twice before climbing across the tree and continuing as I had done. Perhaps the waterfall sated them.

It wasn't a natural waterfall -- just the river letting off steam from a sluice in the concrete dam. Small but violent, and eminently watchable. Even I had stood staring beside the sluice. As the dark muddy waters of the rivers crashed down, they hit long-suffering rocks to form a maelstorm that bubbled over as if with wrath. Deceptively calm on one side, clearly violent on the other. A heron(?) sat in the tree, and was, like me, fascinated with this "brown water". The other denizens of this forest had, like their counterparts in the urban jungle, perhaps decided to stay at home in this incessant rain.

No Entry. The lopsided sign loomed in front of me, and made up my mind for me. I turned back to the path that led off-road. I leapt across the foot stones, till at last I was clear of the water. Grass made for some firm mud, which I was "knowledgeable" to exploit! I continued walking, and was soon grinning ear-to-ear!

I had stumbled upon the most perfect meadow! It was green. It was grassy. It was big. But the best part of it was that it was empty! And the river cut through it, bending as it did so. I could hear not only the distant thunder of the falls, but also the gurgles of the water! Walking to rocks on the water's edge, I watched the water speed down to the falls. I knew this was the spot of the day!

I sat down on the rocks, and just let the water do its thing. The river. The rain. The world soon disappeared.

At least for the next hour or so.

[An otherwise rained-out afternoon well-spent.]