Bound to be some Trouble

I was troubled yesterday. And I wasn't sure of why until late last night. Yesterday was very wet , very. I was able to get out and take just a handful of shots , and the one I really worked at , was spoiled by water on the lens.
The Crab feed should have really been exciting for me , and the Crab was wonderful. The fellowship was great ..but I just seemed disconnected . Something was troubling me , and as it turned out it was more than one thing .
The day before there had been a tragic accident on the Clackamas river , that in turn reminded me of a primal fear of mine when I was much younger .
The Clackamas river runs out from the " melt off " of snow on Mt Hood . The Clackamas is a popular river for recreation , hiking , fishing , swimming and rafting. Its only a few minutes drive from Portland. And because of its proximity it is well used year round .
On Monday a dense blanket of Fog covered the Willamette Valley , but for those who drove a few miles to the East the Fog lifted to a winter playground on the sides of Mt Hood. A young family took such a journey ..they ended up at a recreation area called Austin Hot Springs. There are several Geothermal springs in Oregon , and this is one of the most accessible. the warm water coming from deep within the Earth fills pools alongside the Clackamas river , during the summer when the water level is much lower , people will scoop out resting spots in the river and sit in the Heated water .
Monday the park was covered in snow , the river was running wildly because of rising temperatures and Heavy rains the day before . The family came to play in the snow . The Dad and daughter who was six years old were near the river when in a moment of distraction the father lost sight of the girl. Then He heard her go into the water ..the swift current dragging her from shore ...He raced along the river bank trying to get ahead of the current so He could pull his daughter from the river , but was unable to do so ..she was lost .
Tuesday , the story was unfolding in the local news . Periodically I would see updates on the TV , and AOL had the story on its News banner as well . I was working on files from the last trip to Oregon . One of the photos was of Shallie falls ..and the Mckenzie river . Like the Clackamas the McKenzie is fed by Snow melt from Mountains in the cascades . I was remembering a day trip many years ago when my Daughter Kaisa , and her Mother and I , took a day trip out of Sisters ..to play in the snow and explore.
We had parked the car at the head of the upper Shallie falls trail . The plan was to hike to the falls about a mile away . I had never ben on this trail I had assumed that the trail would follow the river to the falls close to the river . It did but instead of following at River Level it was high above the river. The Path was wide and very easy to hike on , several times Kaisa sprinted out ahead of us , enjoying the snow and all those delights that catch the attention of a hyper active six year old . Several times I had to either chase her down or bellow her name to get her to return to us . She was a bundle of clothes , warmly dressed there was more fabric than person as she bounded down the trail , racing headlong in her fantasy and discovery. Soon we neared the Head of the Falls and I could hear the sound of it from quite a distance . And when we were there perched at the top of the Falls looking down into a swirling mass of water ...with nothing to protect or keep a person from going to near ...A connection was made and Suddenly I was so fearful for my daughters safety ..I grabbed her and held her close ..I stepped back from the ledge ...and the trip back to the car she was puzzled and angry that I never let her go I held her , carried her , but we were always in contact . For years and years after that I would wake up in a start dreaming she had fallen into the Mckenzie ...
Then I read of this Tragedy on the Clackamas River . I can only imagine the horror and shame that father felt when His daughter fell into the water . A trip to bond family memories and to have a pleasant distraction from a gloomy day ..to end in such tragedy . How He must have raced along the river trying to catch his daughter ..the flooded river would have been well past the rocky shoreline and above the well worn trails used by Fishermen and hikers . Instead He would have been crashing through brush and brambles , hands and face cut and bleeding .
How close all of us live our lives out , how but for the Grace of God we survive the torrents and floods that come against us in this life we live out . This families tragedy could have easily been ours several years ago ...I suspect it is an understanding of that troubles me so . We are in so many ways connected to each other , we live a myth of individuality and self sustaining indifference ..when we are one family one people ,m living through the beneficence of Him who gave us all . We are not as strong as we think we are .

We are frail
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are Rich Mullins