5 am...the alarm goes off...find my clothes...stumble to the bathroom, but on my socks from yesterday and my sweats...get the dogs, take them out for a spin...come in after 3 round around the all too full winter pond...feed the dogs and the cats...start the tub...make the coffee...turn off the tub....make breakfast to go...bath...dress really warm...pour coffee into thermos... pack the car...drive to ferry...ferry late...need to get to Olympia by 7:15...tappp tappp...ferry late....ferry comes....ferry drops me off...drive behind a school bus and two cars that think 30 miles per hour means 25....they are in both lanes...can't pass...people waiting for me to pick them up....finally make hwy 16.... its 6:45 now...I need 45 mins to get to school...and have 30....so I move over to get to the I5 south ramp...who is out at this time of the morning on a Saturday but me... apparently everyone....tapp tapp tappp.....resigned I look for my fellow student's phone number in the recently called...I erased it...sigh... state troopers are everywhere...apparently they know the entire world is out at this time on a Saturday morning...7:00...not even close... going to be late...finally get to exit 104....both lanes have cars going below the speed limit...maybe only teachers and grand parents are out this early...tapp tappp tapp....I breath...everything is as it should be...breath....vib the J man to call me...7:15...I'm on 101 headed for the school offramp...cool no one ahead of me untill we get tot he campus line and everyone is going 35...like they should...who are all this people out this early?...don't they know I need to pick up my peeps for the Salmon welcoming? 7:20 J man calls me...I'm relieved...reasuring I will be right there I'm at the round about... we meet...the J man is my shotgun he reads the directions like he's been to Roy 50 million times we get there 5 mins early and are the only ones in the parking lot...are we in the right place...I call my instructor...we are...cool...we help set up the double wide canopy...team work..quick...done...go to bridge over Muck Creek with my peeps we see birds.. get the binoculars and the field guide...3 western scrub jays, 1 red wing black bird, song sparrows...later as we get ready for the blessing a Bald Eagle does a fly by...sweet....
people show up...Nisqually Tribe members, JBLM (Joint Base Luis McCord)(military guys in uniform- they are cool they partner to protect the watershed!! Rock on boyz n girls)...City mayors, Nisqually River Counsel, Nisqually Land Trust...tons more...more of my peeps from TESC show up including our instructors...great displays... we all make a key chain out of colored beads (each bead represents the life of a salmon and what it means to the watershed)...a lot of very nice people...Bob of the Nisqually tribe, a very connected Medicine personage blessed the waters, the salmon, us the land the beasts and the space...welcoming back the salmon which is of the place and as everything is sacred.
The Nisqually Watershed is THE most restored and protected watershed in the Country..oh wait the WORLD...its because all the cities, towns, counties, state peeps, FED peeps, locals like you and me pitch in and assure the the connection of the Glacier to the Sound is solid for the salmon and all the species and flora and fauna there meet n greet. THE WORLD... it is a model for all watersheds and communities to get and understand and put to good use.....There are many watersheds in our region and they could use a hand to get closer to the Nisqually ideal...the next big step is the Sound...then the Ocean...we need to pay attention to how we are connected to the place where we live...everyday and in all things...As a great zen master said...the divine is not in us, we are in the divine...so lets take care of our world like we are that space and time and matter...
Peace out campers...remember the winter is not over yet...keep the coffee hot and the gloves handy!
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