Nine Ways to Cross a River: Midstream Reflections on Swimming and Getting There from HereFrom Thoreau to Edward Abbey to Annie Dillard, American writers have looked at nature and described the sublime and transcendent. Now comes Akiko Busch, who finds multitudes of meaning in the practice of swimming across rivers. The notion that rivers divide us is old and venerated, but they also limn our identities and mark the passage of time; they anchor communities and connect one to another. And, in the hands of writer and swimmer Akiko Busch, they are living archives of human behavior and natural changes. After a transformative swim across the Hudson just before September 11, Busch undertook to explore eight of America's great waterways: the Hudson (twice), the Delaware, the Connecticut, the Susquehanna, the Monongahela, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Current. She observes each river's goings-on and reflects on its history (human and natural) and possible futures. Some of the rivers have rebounded from past industrial misuse; others still struggle with pollution and waste. The swims are also opportunities to muse on the ordinary passages faced by most of us-the death of a parent, raising children, becoming older-and the ways in which the rhythms and patterns of the natural world can offer reassurance, ballast and inspiration. A deeply moving exploration of the themes of renewal and reclamation at midlife, Nine Ways to Cross a River is a book to be treasured and given to friends. |
Contents
The Hudson River AUGUST 29 2001 | 1 |
The Delaware River SEPTEMBER 8 2002 | 20 |
The Connecticut River AUGUST 31 2003 | 43 |
The Susquehanna River JULY 21 2004 | 59 |
The Hudson River SEPTEMBER 5 2004 | 84 |
The Monongahela and Cheat Rivers MAY 21 2005 | 112 |
The Mississippi River JULY 8 2005 | 135 |
The Ohio River JULY 10 2005 | 161 |
The Current River JULY 12 2005 | 177 |
Afterword | 197 |
Acknowledgments | 207 |
Common terms and phrases
acid mine drainage afternoon American rivers aquatic asked bank barges beach Beacon beauty Big Spring boat bridge Cape Girardeau century channel Cheat Cheat River Chillemi clarity coal color Connecticut River construction course Current River Delaware River Dennis downstream drifting earlier edge environmental feel feet float flow green Hudson River Hudson Valley human imagine industrial Jody kayakers kind knew lake landscape later lives looked managed midriver miles Mississippi Missouri Monongahela Monongahela River morning natural world Ohio River once Onni painted park Pennsylvania Pete Seeger plant Point Marion pollution possible rain realized reflected river pool river seemed riverfront rock running Seeger sense sewage shore side simply steel stream stretch summer surface Susquehanna swam swim swimmers swum teenage things tide tion told town trees underwater upriver upstream wall watch wonder words York Yves Klein