Rock Run Creek, II

Rock Run Creek, II

My slice of Rock Run Creek flowed north to south
Crossing Houck Road at bottom of the dirt road hill.
Creeks wind their way through the countryside
Mining easiest cuts through the more soluble soils.
They have no design other than an ease of passage,
Getting to the bottom, eroding away, seeking oceans.

On Houck Road our house perched on a south running
Ridge that terminated at French Creek, St. Peters,
About four miles south. How many eons need pass
For all the eroded soils to filter away down stream ?
The valley from ridge top to ridge top maybe a half
Mile wide, a hundred feet deep, that's a lot of silt.

We perceive creeks as some topographic character
Designed in place like a canal drawn on a blueprint.
They're not, no way, they meander to Nature's Laws.
Gravity draws water down to its very lowest level,
Soils dilute in water while heavier particles suspend
Tumbling along lightly grinding their way, scarifying.

A wondrous fluid, water, is so soft, yet so mighty,
Just look at the Grand Canyon and interpolate it.
Try picking up a handful of water and feel it filter Through your fingers, watch water dissolve flavors Like tea and sugar for your first morning's sipping. And then, return to a vision of a deep valley and a Strong stream meandering through the countryside. 
Imagine the enormous power and energy needed to Cut and carry away all the soil that at one time Filled the valley. How many millions or billions of Years was the span of time needed to accomplish 
This grand task ?

Just look around you, those of you who live in these Foothills of The Appalachian Mountains, and you'll
See hills and valleys everywhere. How did they get
There ? The answer is, yes, by the power of lowly 
Water. Water over time flowing downhill is a very,
Very powerful, exceedingly so, excavator. 

Rock Run Creek is still there working away as it has all these years without a break from its labor. She
Will be working away long after we're all gone. If 
Only we humans had such tenacity to stick to the
The purpose of our labor. Never under estimate the
Vast power of water since you already know our
Bodies are made up of mostly water. Water is truly
A precious fluid, treat it well.

Ronald C. Downie