The Chattahoochee is one of many rivers in Georgia. I grew up in Gwinnett County, which lies right next to the river. The Chattahoochee supplies Metro Atlanta with 70% of its drinking water, and works as a natural border between Georgia, Alabama, and some of Florida. It also acts as a border for many counties in Georgia. When I was younger, every summer, my family and I used to make trips up to Helen, Georgia to go tubing in the Chattahoochee.
As I walked by Bushkill Creek, I noticed that the graffiti that had once existed beside it was covered up. I’ve always been a fan of graffiti, and wish there were more public places where it would be legal and accepted. This wall would be significantly more attractive with the help of artists from Easton. The creek would create a pleasant atmosphere for their work to be displayed. I truly believe that leaving this wall blank and covering up any graffiti on it is a missed opportunity. Perhaps the deer I spotted by the creek was also saddened by this development.
I found this rock by the Delaware river on a hike for Geology 100. There is a line in the rock that almost looks like it’s splitting apart. This line is called a tension gash and is filled with crystal. This small rock gives us hints into the history of the Delaware river millions of years ago. Once there was no river here, instead it was a mountain or large hill. Seismic activity occurred, causing cracks to form in the rock. The water got into the cracks and over a very long time of freezing, thus expanding, and thawing the crack got wider and wider until the river busted this mountain open. The line on this rock shows the same type of seismic activity that occurred all of those years ago. I’ll talk more about it in my GORP next Tuesday.
Yesterday I went to the Karl Stirner Arts Trail to run. At first, I just ran back and forth on the trail. We did sprints and other drills. Our last run was more of a cool-down run so I ran at a slow pace. As I ran back, I noticed so many things I didn’t before. Before I was focused on practice and not mindful of the environment around me. As I lightly jogged back I paid more attention to the scenery. I was amazed that I didn’t even notice it before. I saw dogs in the park, I saw birds flying above, and spent more time looking at the artwork and boards with information on them, rather than just glancing. I feel like there’s so many things like this around us, but it’s just a matter of paying attention.
While walking through downtown Easton last week, I took this picture of the Easton Dam. It is where the Lehigh River meets the Delaware. In 2017, some people wanted to remove the dam to make the area of downtown Easton an area for white water rafting, fishing, and other recreational activities. Being from New Jersey, it is interesting to me that a lot of the water we get there comes from the Delaware.
After a stressful day taking a Calculus exam I walked down to the river to destress. I found a comfortable rock and sat at the water’s edge for a few minutes listening to the sound of the water.
I was doing research online the past couple days about the Delaware River, and I came across a couple sources of good news. The first is that conservancy projects throughout the Delaware River Watershed were awarded a grand total of $16 million dollars to help restore, clean up and revitalise parts of the Delaware River. The money was awarded to several groups throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York. Also, I interestingly came across something called the “Delaware River Watershed Conservation Act,” – which I look forward to exploring further. Similarly, there is actually some more local efforts to help clean up the river. On September 21st, there is the 2nd community cleanup in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, which is about 40 minutes away (so a little far, but not too far), where volunteer will help to clean up the river both on foot, as well as in canoes and kayaks!
More Information:
Local clean up efforts: https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/how-we-live/2019/09/19/gardener-state-help-clean-up-delaware-river-sept-21/2342190001/
Wider clean up efforts: https://www.inquirer.com/science/delaware-river-watershed-philadelphia-fish-wildlife-service-20190918.html
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