Swimming upstream

Two days ago I spent an hour watching coho launch themselves up a waterfall in a hidden river between Ucluelet and Tofino, British Columbia. I had intended to practice flyfishing but was overcome instead by the tenacity of that beautiful fish, the force of the lifegiving water and the need to sit and watch, and to cheer. I had no desire to dominate one, just to admire it alive and to breathe in deeply the air and water all around us.