Earth, Air, Fire, Water

“Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.”

Barbara Brown Taylor

Natural wonders aren’t always grandiose.

On this trip to Western New York, I could have visited majestic Niagara Falls, but instead, I’ve decided to witness something more modest – a flame that burns eternally under a different waterfall. A waterfall that’s barely a trickle by Niagara’s standards.

The Eternal Flame Falls trail in Chestnut Ridge Park leads to a ravine in the Shale Creek Preserve. A trek through deep woods takes me over thick, twisted roots of hemlock and pine and a crisp carpet of just-fallen leaves. I breathe in the earthy aromas of autumn.

This time of year, birches, elms, and maples deliver temporary flames of bright yellow and orange overhead. But I’m drawn toward a real flame, one magically created when natural gas escapes through fissures in the creek bed.

I descend to the creek where the trail leads me upstream to the falls. Wet leaves along the bank are slippery underfoot, and as I approach the gorge, the air becomes pungent with the smell of methane. Cold water cascades over the shale, turning it jet black. But where is the flame? Ah, yes, there it is, burning within a rocky recess at the base of the 35-foot waterfall.

Admittedly, the flame is small – underwhelming really – but it is tenacious, if not technically eternal. The flame flickers a bit behind the stream of falling water. I notice that one hiker has come prepared with a barbecue lighter to re-ignite it if necessary. It’s not.

I brave climbing slick, flat rocks to peer into the alcove for a closer look. Here, in this miniature grotto, the elements of earth, air, fire, and water unite. Four vital energy forces, coexisting in perfect balance … providing a flickering glimpse of eternity.

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”

Rachel Carson