On the Susquehanna, by Olivia Linehan

The trip down the Susquehanna was the first time I ever really processed and understood what eddylines meant. The dictionary definition states it is the outline of an eddy, an eddy being: a circular movement of water, counter to a main current, causing a small whirlpool. It was very interesting to me to see the eddylines of a great river like the Susquehanna. To not only see, but also experience. I realized on the Susquehanna how powerful the eddylines were. Deceivingly weak looking, I learned little eddylines that you would think can only affect a leaf, really can drag a whole canoe off route. 1

 

Coming from Robin Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass, she says: “Native scholar Greg Cajete has written that in indigenous ways of knowing, we understand a thing only when we understand it with all four aspects of our being: mind, body, emotion, and spirit. I came to understand quite sharply when I began my training as a scientist that science privileges only one, possibly two, of those ways of knowing: mind and body. As a young person wanting to know everything about plants, I did not question this. But it is a whole human being who finds the beautiful path.”  After not only hearing about, but experiencing the eddy’s of the Susquehanna, I can only agree with this statement. Although my experience was with a river and not plants, I felt as though this quote was accurate. Prior to our canoe trip I understood what an eddy was with my mind only. And to be honest, I associated eddylines more with our class blog than with any river at all.

 

However, after canoeing (attempting to canoe) through the Susquehanna’s eddy’s I believe I gained new understanding of eddylines. While traveling over the eddy’s I understood the sheer power of the river, even if the ripple looked so small. My understanding was amplified when I realized even with all my strength I could not move my canoe through the eddy. Here my body’s understanding of both eddylines and the river itself was formed. It was through the eddy’s that I felt true emotion towards the river. The sheer power of the river, combined with the gentle beauty moved me. It was something I couldn’t have actually experienced just from looking at the river, but instead I could only gain these feelings from being on the river. I’m not quite sure how I gained this emotional connection to the river, but it just seemed to be there once the canoe trip was finished. I noticed when I was met with multiple “You were canoeing all day? That must have been brutal” and rather than agreeing I was only thinking about what an amazing time it was for me to reconnect to nature. The river became an object of beauty to me.

 

The only understanding I lacked in gaining was a spiritual connection. Although I have often struggled with spiritual connections. For example, in yoga it is always challenging for me to completely relax and spiritually connect to the practices. I realize this is a flaw of mine and can only hope to try and improve my abilities for spiritual connection in the future, and I can only hope that I can enhance this learning process through nature.

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