Letter: Relationships Threatened by Rivers

Majestic, mysterious, whimsical, the picturesque three-story chalet is perfectly situated in a grassy meadow.

Though deep in the forest of the Olympic wilderness it cannot at all be described as nestled there among the trees but rather as commanding the most marvelous view anywhere to be found in the National Park.

Rest awaits at the beckoning fairytale lodge.

There is history recorded there evidenced by initials carved on the hand-hewn logs.

There are voices there too if you listen close. With the kind of imagination common to camping stories at the end of the day, you can still hear them, the laughter of hunters and hikers, lovers too, bouncing off the walls. and their footfalls made on the stairway leading to sleeping quarters above are ghostly sounds as you stand there in silence.

I know. I’ve been there. I’ve listened.

The ever-changing course of the East Fork of the Quinault River has, over the years, eroded the ground near the chalet. Little by little, inch by inch, the historic structure has been threatened and on occasion the fairytale lodge has even been moved away from that which portended its collapse.

Like the mountain chalet has now and then suffered from the menacing meanderings of the river, so relationships are often threatened by misunderstandings, unmet expectations, communications gone awry.

But that which is beautiful, and those with whom those beautiful memories are made, are worth our best efforts to save.