by the sea

Jamaica Bay, Four Sparrow Marsh, Mill Creek

wet weather

1.1.11

I was surprised that many I know headed into the water on New Years day, here in BK at Coney or where ever they could. Two weeks ago I would have never thought that I might be included among those testing their personal antifreeze, but as of that morning it became clear I'd be joining in. As if the thought had been thought for me.

wet and dry

swimming lessons

Drilling for Gas in the NYC Watershed?

How about no? NRDC has the following information on their website regarding this plan to drill for Natural Gas in the watershed that provides NYC with one of its most valuable treasures. The NYT has had many articles of late concerning the number of communities in the country where citizens are drinking toxic water. As one states "More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data." We can still avoid this here, but it's amazing how quickly greasy palms could sell out our most valuable resource. Learn more and take action here.

New Yorkers enjoy some of the cleanest drinking water in the country, but proposed industrial gas drilling could threaten the state's natural resources and the health of its citizens. In October, the Department of Environmental Conservation released a draft report intended to evaluate the potential risks associated with extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, which lies under much of New York's southern tier and the Catskills, including most of the New York City watershed.

The state's draft report, however, contains many critical flaws. Some of the most egregious omissions in the report include the failure to properly consider the potential cumulative harm to water quality, air quality and other natural resources, the failure to consider alternative plans that would pose fewer risks to New Yorkers' health and environment, and the failure to provide any meaningful plan for treating and disposing of millions of gallons of wastewater contaminated with chemicals, heavy metals and even high levels of radioactivity. In addition, the draft plan would not prohibit drilling in fragile ecological areas, including the watersheds that collectively provide clean, unfiltered water to more than 15 million New Yorkers and millions more downstream.

Although the Department of Environmental Conservation is currently accepting comments on the draft report, this version should be abandoned in favor of a completely new one that would ensure a sustainable future for our state's water bodies and other ecological resources.

Comment from LoveCanal2020...
If anyone would like to sign the petition to withdraw the DEC SGEIS report on gas drilling they can find a petition and letter to send to Governor Paterson here:
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/coalition_letter/sign

amphibious vehicle

From what I've read, the first oceans condensed from vapors of volcanic origin. They were not saline, the water cycle had not yet rinsed salts into them from terrestrial watersheds, so they made perfect germination pools for amphibians, those most tender creatures, no longer found in the now heavily salted seas, only in fresh water. But it seems to me all water is fresh, no manners at all. It just touches you wherever it wants, even from the inside.

Roses and Water

I've been imagining that water has a story to tell me but my ears are too dull to hear it. I'd like to know what's on its mind. What's on the mind of a substance that can divide itself into such small, separate particles which can crystallize with so much eloquence or alternately join into one body so vast its weight must press the earth's crust into ever shifting configurations of trenches and crests. What's to be said about this element which inflates all creatures with the tensions necessary for embodiment? Is there anyone who isn't "born of water?" Certainly there are those who've hidden this information from their awareness.

Twice in two days I came across the line "they go down to the sea in ships," which sounded like very odd language to me when I paid attention. The first time I simply marveled at the words wondering what was at the root of their strangeness (you don't go to sea in ships, you get in them when you get there, was what I was thinking.) I sat down on the train next to a man reading a book open to a chapter entitled "They go down to the Sea in Ships," and then saw that the page mentioned psalm 107:23. I never found out what the book was. Then for some reason it pleased my daughter's teacher to preach this idea to me as I was leaving her class yesterday: "A boat can take you anywhere you want to go." Hmm, anywhere? That's very accommodating.

Above is the rose water I've been making with the abundant petals of the Rapa Rose bush so huge it hits the front of our house like a wave spraying a storm of pink foam. Does pink also have a story to tell? Let me hear it. In the meantime, I'll tell you a little story. I found out that if you make tea from fresh rose petals by steeping them in boiling water for a few minutes, the liquid will be a light rust color. Add a few drops of lemon juice and it turns a shade like the one above. Do it if you can, maybe like me you will feel blessed and elated by the strange revelations, and in the turning of the pink, a joy as abundant as if the mixture had precipitated gold.