On the heels of our second response paper about rivers, I continue to be interested by the question of how rivers connect us. In our story of place, Tory, Owen, and I are examining the role of the Bushkill Creek in the greater College Hill area’s history. In our early research, we have found that periodic flooding has had an impact on our site and the surrounding area.

On Sunday, I went down to the dam behind The Spot to get some preliminary footage of the river’s flow. Although I wasn’t there long (as I didn’t want to disturb the sleeping man), I was able to capture the flow what seemed to be a relatively tame creek. Today, the flow of the Bushkill was dramatically different. After last night’s rain, the water level was significantly higher and the suspended load in the water was much more substantial. While the creek was nowhere near flood level, I was surprised to see the dramatic change that one night of rain could have on the stage of the creek. With rain in the forecast for the next few days, I am interested to see how much higher the creek gets. While it would be unfortunate to see any amount of flooding, it would be an awesome connection to our story to see the creek top its banks while we are studying its history of flooding.