Take a Photo, Yo!

Can’t tell you how many times I have taken what turns out to basically be the same Conestoga River photo. Most of these feature my paddle-partner Jeff.

I’ll be coming around a bend, or the light will be something amazing, or it’s just Jeff on the water, and I’ll pause and snap a pic. Aside from checking out the day’s collection to post something on the Instagram account, I don’t ever really look at them beyond the day or even delete anything. Suppose that’s why Google keeps telling me I’m almost out of memory. Thanks, Google. 

All one needs to do to see that I take the same photos all of the time is look at conestogia on Instagram. 

I’d wager that there are numerous photos of the stretch to Rocky Springs, tons of the bend right there at the old amusement park, a bunch with the haunted-house sycamore in the distance, and the quarry stretch, and the rapids stretch and a few of the rapids/house at the end. You either get Jeff in the photo or you don’t; the only options really. 

But… as is true for photos in general, they don’t really capture what is happening on the river. They are static - static representations of a dynamic entity. The photos are flat while the river is alive.

Maybe that’s why they mostly just sit there. They can stand as a reminder of what was experienced, but for all of the time spent collecting them, my photos of the river lie dormant and are ineffective in eliciting the feelings or experiences that inspired me to take them in the first place. 

Having said all that, how about a photo?

The rapids and house. No Jeff.

Biophelia and freedom

Since becoming aware of OA Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis, a theory that holds that humans are not only drawn to natural spaces, but that they benefit from time communing with nature, I have sometimes wondered where exactly the power in these spaces lies. 

Certainly, some of this is in the inherent power and wonder and beauty of such spaces. To see something beautiful or novel is always an awesome thing and this is true if the beauty or novelty is part of the natural world or part of the world constructed by humans.

Additionally, however, some of the power of natural spaces can be found in the fact that nature offers a respite from the constructed world; a respite from the stories that make up so much of human society. 

The natural world is primary. The natural world and the behaviors of the living things found within it are concerned with basic needs: food, shelter, reproduction, etc. This just isn’t true for the vast majority of the world in which we live. The concerns are trivial, the behaviors are inconsequential and so much is based on the whims and fancy of humans. 

On the river there are a myriad of different ways that humans have affected the landscape, but what is happening out there is free from all of the mess that exists beyond its banks. Yes, time in natural spaces can provide manna for a soul or mind or body, but perhaps the break from all of the mess is where the real power lies. 

The Mysterium Tremendum Awaits

A Week of Gifts

It’s been a week of subtle gifts on the river. 

The mayflies (stone flies?) were out two days ago and traced wave-like paths as they traveled upstream. They appeared to glide in an upward trajectory and then fall back down only to climb again. I tried to find a video of this behavior online, but nothing turned up. There was this super cool video on insect flight and mayflies and stoneflies are featured along with a whole collection of other awesome fliers. Check it out. Yesterday, these flies were nowhere to be seen despite going out around the same time of day.

We shared the river with an osprey during a float. It tree-hopped ahead of us; calling out on a couple of occasions. 

I have already mentioned the catalpa tree and its stripping by an army of catalpa moth caterpillars, but I found a polyphemus moth cocoon floating on the river - another gift. Likely dead, this was a huge specimen and while it had separated from the leaves it was constructed around, these left an imprint of their venous patterns. 

There was the usual collection of heron, osprey and eagle sightings and a particularly vocal red tailed hawk also made for a moment on the river.

But that’s what the river does. It surprises. It moves. It holds so many awesome things.

As I write this, we are forecasted to get some rain this afternoon. This will be a welcome element as the trees at the house are ready for a drink and the river (low at the moment) could use a bit more volume and a little flush.

Can’t wait to get out on it. 

And sun!!!