Waller Creek Revisited Dualism is what I am supposed to avoid in this observation. I feel a little odd observing in a whole new way today. Yet as Bump wrote in "Dualism VS. ..." "By looking only at the opposite poles of these or other dichotomies we tend to ignore everything between them..." I suppose the fact that something is new is the reason it feels uncomfortable and a bit scary. But maybe I should look at things through a child's eye and see what they see. So much is around me and it would be hard to try to take it all in. To find a way to look at everything and ask thousands all at once seems a bit mind-boggling. So I will look at things through the eyes of an animal that has the best views, the eyes of a bird. Looking down on the world one of my favorite spots is the place where water runs and trees surround this creek as if by some sense to protect it from as much harm as possible. I know a great deal about the trees that surround this creek because this is where I sit and watch and sing. Some of the trees that line the creek are strong and full of big limbs and branches. These big, overbearing trees are great to sit in when I need a bit of protection from the elements or other animals. They encompass me in their large limbs and hold me. I know that in away they do the same for the creek. The creek is old and has seen many difficult times and through it all these same large trees that embrace me also cover and protect the creek and its history and tradition. There are also trees that are not so large in scale and seem to offer no real protection or comfort to the creek, me, or any other animal. In fact, when sitting in a limb of a small tree I always hope that there will to be a gust of wind because then the tree bends and I must hurry to fly away or I too will fall with the tree. Although their size makes these small trees inferior they also have qualities that make them an important part of the creek's life. When it is beautiful outside and the sun is shinning down it is great to perch in a small tree and absorb the light and enjoy the magnificent day. When days like these come I just sit and sing to show the incredible peace and bliss that comes from within me. If it was not for these tiny trees that allow me to receive the sunlight and the peaceful breeze then there would be nothing to sing about and then the passersby would not hear my song and incorporate it with the creek. When there is no one around the creek, which is not very often, I hop down to the rock near the water and poke my beak into the water and hear the song the creek sings. I hear music form all around me in this joyous place. Music comes from the wind that blows through the limbs of the trees, it comes from the sun rising and setting, from crickets and other animals rustling around the brush, music comes from within myself, from the passersby, "Man is not seen as a dominant part of nature but equal among equals" p. 349 (Burch), and music comes from the gentle, cool water that steadily moves throughout the creek.