Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at
Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it,
and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders
of Israel.
Anybody who hikes, especially in the Adirondack
State Park of upstate NY, can attest to the fact that water indeed can
flow from rocks. It is very common up in the High Peaks.
Water
seeping out of rock formed a lake called "Lake Tear In The Clouds,"
which has been traced to be the birthplace of the mighty Hudson River
("Co-ha-ta-te-a," - River from Beyond the Peaks, as interpreted by the
Mohawk Tribe). The lake rests just below the summit of Mount Marcy
(Tahawas: Cloud Splitter) at 4,293 feet. Its primary outflow is
Feldspar Brook which then becomes Opalescent Stream. This is the site
where where Teddy Roosevelt learned that McKinley had been shot. From
the lake, it is about a ten hour hike to get back down to the town of
Newcomb where Roosevelt then took a stage to Buffalo to be sworn in as
President.
Birthplace of the Hudson
A mossy cushion on the mountain
dripping in wetness, mountain blood
exists the birthplace of a fountain
from deep dark springs destined to run
Like glossy birds o’er rocks they ripple
gift of mountain purity
traversing over feldspar pebbles
universal unity
The trickle pauses for a rest
where often mist enshrouds
beneath Mount Marcy’s edifice
lies Lake Tear in the Clouds
The lake at times had fallen away
by summer drought and noontime sun
the painted trunks and bank display
what springtime thaw had long since done
Nature takes her liberty
this little place, to occupy
unseen to human apathy
a dotted fleet of water flies
The outlet played its melodies
like tingling nerves it ran downhill
flowed in braided songful peace
shaping at its wild will
And fainting not to thirsty suns
the throbbing water darts with ease
to preordained symposium
to kneel at the foot of its emperor the sea
On its journey purely chastened
falling on, its swiftness doubles
plunging numerous black basins
glittering bright with silver bubbles
This gentle stream now mighty brook
leaps in white astonishment
interposing streams partook
a streaking shower opalescent
In fierce heedless chafing water
driftwood striped of bark and branch
terrific cataracts of slaughter
plunge in rabid avalanche
A crag, a perfect net that strangles
prostrate trees now lying entombed
the foaming steeps and channeled angles
catapults Opalescent Flume
-Malcolm Kogut.
