Siren song of spring

April 30, 2016- Like a Siren song it calls to them… from near and far, scores and scores come to see the flowers! The Gorge is in blossom and not a space at a trail head is to be found. We shake our heads at a line of ten or more standing outside the sole Port-a-Potty baking in the summer sun at the end of the gravel parking area. We move on in search of a place silent of the call; a gem unnoticed we can quietly enjoy. The morning wears on and the searing heat of the day works like magic in places with no tree shade. We find ourselves at Columbia Hills Historic Park. As we begin to peruse the petroglyphs rescued before the waters of the Columbia rose when the Bonneville dam was first installed, a ranger approaches. “If you would like to join the petroglyph walking tour, we have open spaces and are leaving in ten minutes. We’re booked solid on the tour next month and the heat only gets worse from now on.” We join in with a small handful of others. We wander in the tall grass and among the boulders. The sun is blinding and grandly illuminates some petroglyphs and utterly hides the pictographs. For the first time I view “She who watches” and can’t help but smile back at her. If rocks could speak… If I could sit at the feet of the artist! Like Mona Lisa, she knows something but is silent to share.

The ranger mentions there are many more petroglyphs safely tucked away on Reservation lands that anthropologists have not been fully trusted to visit and research. Something inside aches wishing I knew those protecting the petroglyphs. Wishing I somehow gained a welcome to see and hear and meet the descendants of these artists and share their stories.