The Zen of Irrigatien- Part 1

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

- Ryokan

The sound of water
Says what I think.

- Chuang Tzu

Here it is right now. Start thinking
about it and you will miss it.

-Huang Po

The momentarily definate yet indefinable "zen" of water in one of its more simple and unlikely settings is the major theme of this gallery. "The Zen of Irrigatien-Part 1" is a collection of 29 non-digital, film images of cool, clear irrigation water coursing through and being in a 100 year old seriously deteriorated open ditch irrigation system for a small cattle ranch located in central california where the great central valley first begins to gently climb towards the snow packed Sierra Nevada mountains from whence all such waters originate. Despite the increasing encroachment of "Ranchetteism", this is still real horse and cattle country, with rodeos and avid bird hunters, country music fans and occasional lone coyotes. I can't be certain, but it seems highly unlikely that any of the locals have looked at a neighborhood irrigation situation the way I have done in this presentation. But then again, most are not inclined toward the zen.

No filters or manipulation of any kind was used in the taking or making of these images. The cool water colors, forms and ensuing moods are all natural. The first three images are of the same water valve taken on three different irrigatien occasions and reveal the beautiful mutibility of water's color and form. My trusty old Minolta Maxxum 7000 is the sole mechanical source for this gallery's photos as it has been for all the many different images found in all the galleries at THERE OUT THERE. com. Some were taken when the summer's searing temperature was 106 degrees or more and I was standing barefoot in the water for basic survival in the heat purposes. Some were taken when random energy charged mystic clouds drifted overhead and encouraged my efforts by reminding me that water and clouds are of the same essence only in different temporary physical forms.

As the cold Sierra water flows through the ragged time worn cattle stomped field ditches and water worn pipes out into the fields, one can experience the serenity and quietude being of grass made ripples and little falls and almost falls as they become clearer and dearer in a meditation's moment. So simply it is there and you know it's there and it explains everything...

Water in the physical is not eternal but the experience of water can be. "The Zen of Irrigatien" cannot be properly defined or even described with words. But the special occasional photographic image, taken at the right time, and in the moment's universal meaning, seems to be able to provide at a minimum, a bit of illusive but conclusive definition to the illusively indefinate, "Zen of Irrigatien".

One time near the water flow
In a timeless moment
I'd never know
I ceased to exist
And ascended into everything....

Daniel, Zen irrigator