This stream flowing in the Columbia Gorge seems to be alive with the spirit of the place.  On many hikes over the years I would pause for a moment and it always felt special in some way.  In 2001, I visited it with a camera and took a few photos, and over several more trips discovered a spot where the water glows with colors of green and blue that shimmer like an alien kind of molten metal.  When I saw the photographs for the first time I felt that a fantasy landscape from my dreams was suddenly made real.  

At my best moments creativity becomes a dreamlike process where the landscape leads me to a place beyond my awareness.  The sacred part of this process is that I receive an amazing gift:  a photograph to show the dream to others.  The best writers can spin a fantasy from their dreams; I feel most fortunate to do the same with an image.  There is an important lesson here, that creativity requires a willingness to be led, a desire to be free to flow with events and see where they take oneself, much as the waters in this creek.