Water's healing, hypnotic presence shapes, soothes, nourishes

"The water's running free and it's waiting there for me.... cool, clear water." Here, at Black's Beach in northern San Diego County, a favorite of glider aficionados and nude sunbathers. 

Water works its magic on lakes, rivers, oceans

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

Ducks enjoy a pond in
San Diego's Kit Karson Park.

WARS HAVE been fought over it, countries conquered and fortunes lost over it. Crops have flourished or languished depending on its availability. We would all die without it.
Precious, beautiful, nourishing, calming water.
We soak our feet in it, wash our clothes, keep our lawns and flowers gorgeous and use its ice to cool our beverages.

San Francisco's skyline and waters provide pretty boat and ship photos.

Nothing beats a long cool drink from my spring-fed pump after a day of digging, planting, hiking or mowing at High Chaparral in Montana's Beartooth Mountains.
WATER COVERS 71 per cent of the Earth, working its magic and singing its siren song.
Lovers and poets slosh around in it.  Hundreds of famous movie scenes involve water, including "Singing in the Rain" with the magnificent dancing of that dapper, umbrella toting Gene Kelly.  Or how about steamy beach-side love making? Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr do some heavy breathing on the sands in "From Here to Eternity."
Recently, "Titanic" put a grim and spectacular spin on water's deadly potential.
MY PARTNER, Bruce Keller, was born and raised on the Pacific Ocean of southern California and spent summers on a lakeside cabin in rural Minnesota.
I grew up in a small Montana town on the Stillwater River, and live part of the year on the west fork of that river today.
My sister Peny was a lifeguard at the Columbus Pool.  So was my cousin Cliff.  I remember them both diving into the waters, turning heads, cutting through the air  with grace.
BOTH KELLER and I love sailing, as faithfuls of this blog know.
Among our most glorious times are afternoons spent sailing Mission Bay, sometimes just the two of us and other times with visiting family or sailing friends.
 Our holidays always take us to the water -- the shores of Lisbon, the bay of Olbia in Sardinia, a

Cookie and her Atlanta sister, Misha, enjoy a sail on Mission Bay.

rooftop garden overlooking the canals of Venice, a barge cruise  through the Loire Valley, stopping at chateaux and tasting the treats of the vineyards.
Dinner cruises are a favorite of ours -- on the Seine in Paris, on the Thames in London. Around Manhattan with its glorious architecture.
When we visit Seattle, we book a room on Elliot Bay.  In San Francisco, we try to situate ourselves with a view of Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman's Wharf.
In New York, it's a treat to look down upon the East River and watch the city lights.

Fisherman's Wharf is always a picturesque photo opportunity.

WATER'S magical mix is one atom of oxygen and two atoms of hydrogen, bonded by sharing electrons.
Water has carved many of the world's great sites, including Arizona's Grand Canyon and the mighty canyons of our own Yellowstone Park.
If one believes the story of Noah, the dove signaled the end of the flood, returning with a sprig of tree to prove that land would once again return to Earth.
Here in the northern Rockies, I've found seashells on my meanderings.
On cruises and Atlantic crossings, we've admired the frigate birds that follow the ship, hundreds of miles from land. This wonderful bird, related to pelicans, is also called the pirate bird and can have a

Whale watching and a sunset cruise combine to delight
the writer and photographer off the coast of Santa Barbara. 

wing span of nearly eight feet.
Our healing tears are salty water and I'm convinced of the boost my mental health gets from the negative ions provided by the Pacific.
It's a universal solvent and can -- with time -- dissolve anything, cutting through solid marble, stone and steel.
"Water, water, cool, clear water" as the Marty Robbins song goes.
 May we always treat it with reverence and respect and be grateful for its life-giving force.

COMING SATURDAY: Our travelers take
to the skies and byways, with tips on traveling with beloved pets. Pointers await, through the next few blogs, on traveling safely abroad and making the most of your time and dollar.