A Letter to a Friend

It is so pristine and beautiful here - a place like I've never been before. Yesterday I went for a hike - the salmon were splashing their final dance in the crystal clear streams. Berried bear scat was on the trail, so we spoke to them to leave us alone, but their bellies are full this time of year. The ancient forest was covered with mosses and lichens that carried every shade of green from chartreuse to aqua-marine. Dew sparkled with the spectrum. Yellow and orange mushrooms were everywhere. The crows were active and talking - Caroline picked up an eagle feather and gave it to me. Through the forest we went to a meadow with wild orchids and bogs with lilies, then back down the trail and we saw at least a dozen seals that were wrestling and herding the salmon. It is a wild place, a balance prevails, and the beauty is breathtaking.

All surrounded by mountains and glaciers- a rainforest. And one of the rarest and most delicate varieties - a coastal temperate rainforest.

It's because there aren't many people here, because there aren't any roads here, because folks like Dune and I have a vision and we're fighting for it. And it's so hard - these old ways of exploiting and consuming. This visceral and unfortunate Christian drive to dominate and manhandle the earth - god Christine, I will never be the same. I will never even look at a paper cup without thinking twice. Every jet trip I take is tempered with the forests I want to save.

My fear is that we will ruin this place.

What a challenge, it makes me want to cry. Thank god I have the soul of an artist. It sustains me.

© Copyright August 1999 C.Hoover/Trio

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