BUTTERMILK FALLS I. Stillness I have only seen this place once-- only one time that I remember. Strange enough, parts of it could almost be twins of pictures you see of places like Macchu Picchu (anybody who has seenthe pictures and the falls knows this) or something out of a legend. You can almost see the fallen towers with the leafy green plans winding around them. The steps are worn smoooth and slightly crumbled next to the water that is in deep green pools or lies nearly still on the stone, moving ina slow trickle. Other people pass by, but that's few enough so that you feel like you could be the only person for miles. The lifeguards tell you to stay on the path, that it is too dangerous to step into the water. Maybe they are right. Sometimes the water could sweep you along to the bottom, but they are wrong when you can just stand ankle-deep in the water and close your eyes to everything around you. II. Privacy How easy it is to think of other things when you are trying to concentrate on the scenes around you-- Macchu Picchu or medieval England-- and what youve' heard about them. Slightly crumbled steps with areas where you walk worn smooth lead up to a tree that could be a twin for the one that supposedly Merline sleeps under. The Lady of the Lake cast him into an enchanted slee, bidding the hawthorn tree to grow its roots above and about him and have the green leafy ferns wind around him and the tree. He would sleep until he was needed again-- or so we are told. It is not hard to believe. Step onto a flat, sun-baked stone and lie still on your back, letting the water flow over your feet. Now you cannot tell the diffference between the water and your body. You would be the only person for miles-- if you were still really there.
Amy Aderman
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