Andy Wakeman photo
Last week Glenn Wolff and I posed as poster children for an upcoming campaign by the Grand Traverse Conservation District to raise awareness about the beautiful and fragile Boardman River. We spent a pleasant couple hours in the evening fishing on the upper river, just above Ranch Rudolph, while photographer Andy Wakeman shot us casting to imaginary trout and huddled together discussing weighty philosophical issues such as whether to use a Royal Coachman dry fly or a bead-head nymph. Later we stood on the bank with Conservation District director Treenen Sturman, outreach specialist John Gessner, and Eric Campbell, Director of Proof Positive Design, and swapped fishing stories.
Naturally, all of that got Glenn and me thinking about the Boardman in particular and rivers in general, subjects that are never far from our thinking anyway but have special urgency in these days when rivers are so at risk from careless land-use policies and galloping development. Those who know the Boardman know that she is among the most pristine and beautiful of Michigan’s rivers, that she is the jewel at the heart of the Grand Traverse region, and that she needs all the protection we can give her. The fine people at the Conservation District have been working tirelessly for many years to keep the river healthy and well protected.
The Friday List is a day early this week because I’m heading to Walloon Lake for the Bear River Writers Conference. As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Ways to look at a river:
– as a thing of beauty
– as sanctuary/retreat
– as ecosystem
– as highway
– as energy source/water source/resource
– as playground
– as classroom
– as shaper of the land
– as metaphor for time or journey
– as sustenance (physical/spiritual)
– as metaphysical puzzle
– as residence of myths
– as itself
Am I missing anything?
A mouth….
as a portrait sitter that just will not sit still.
as the dynamics of life: ever-changing
a river is a sculptor of stone – it smooths sharp edges and chisels shape into what is shapeless; a river is music, it percusses small stones and brittle reeds, it sings at each bend.
..as a home
…as a lover
…as a shapeshifter
I think I read in one of your books where you called it a “surface reflection of groundwater”
….child of the glaciers
….a giver of life
thank you!!
Enjoying the list as well as additions. Enjoy the conference
Thanks, everybody. These are great additions to the list. In case you haven’t guessed it, I’m stealing shamelessly from you for future work.
A place to get lost and find myself.
A healer…
A companion…
As a proud 4th generation resident of its beautiful banks, my daughter being a 5th, I see the Boardman River as a powerful story teller. Some of my best memories have been formed while enjoying its serenity. I only wish that the people who choose to see it as anything but natures beauty could take a deep breath and see. Next time anyone who reads this enjoys their part of the Boardman, I would ask you to bring a bag & make an effort to grab any garbage you may see
Let us keep it clean
I’m with you all the way, Jud. I rarely leave the river without hoovering up at least a few beer cans and candy wrappers. It makes a difference.
A hiding place for phantom fish.
Always challenging, releasing occasional glimpses of its secrets.
A river, especially sparkling water at the foot of a falls, plays inimitable, heart-stirring music for all who pause to listen.
Thanks for your work on the Boardman.
Norris