This summer five students and one trip leader at traveling along the Connecticut River to develop an intellectual, emotional, and embodied understanding of this watershed as both a socio-ecological entity and a metaphor for something larger–a paradigm for living well in a place wherever we go. For the third blog post Ms. Goodale shares with us Avi’s reflection on the question: Is a river alive?
Before we left Deerfield, students responded to the following prompt, which is the title of a book by Robert Macfarlane. This is Avi’s response:
Is a river alive?
Yes, it moves and changes like anything else. It has a mind of its own. Alive as though the mountains had cried into the ever listening valleys. The tears bring life as they meander through the Earth. Born in the hills and dying in the oceans. On its path through life, it shelters and feeds all who need its cool embrace. The river is alive and it winds its way forever toward her death in the great blue beyond.
-Avi ’27
We will return to this question throughout the trip and reflect on any new perspectives we’ve gained.
