Polly Howells
Falling Waters Preserve, Glasco, New York
2019
Story Info
TYPE OF WOUNDED PLACE
TYPE OF STORY
EXCHANGE EVENT

Story & Experience
There were twelve of us who gathered in a small cove on the Hudson River, after following the Father C. Jorn Trail from the parking lot of the Falling Water Preserve in Saugerties, New York. Until he passed in 2002, Father Jorn was the chaplain of the Dominican Sisters’ retreat that sits above the trail. Over many years he carved this trail himself, using only a machete and a rake.
The river is still tidal here, and the rising waters have eroded the roots of the trees at high tide, leaving them exposed when the water goes out.
We stood in circle, hearing a poem by Paul Goodman, “The Lordly Hudson.”
This is our lordly Hudson hardly flowing
under the green-grown cliffs
and has no peer in Europe or the East.
Be quiet, heart! Home! Home!
We talked about the climate catastrophe we are facing, and noted the murkiness of the stream that ran beside the path leading to the water. Then we spread out silently along the shore, gathering materials, both natural and manmade, that called to us. We collaboratively created our bird out of these materials, and then came back together in circle around our creation.
At this point an influx of about thirty people arrived for a baby-naming ceremony. They were excited to hear about Radical Joy for Hard Times, and the mother and child joined our circle while we learned and sang the beautiful song by MaMuse, “We shall be Known.”
It is time, now, It is time now that we thrive
It is time to lead ourselves into the well
It is time, now, and what a time to be alive
In this great turning we shall learn to lead in love
In this great turning we shall learn to lead in love.
As one of our participants noted, “We made our bird and opened our ceremony and the child arrived.”
It was a magical afternoon.
Falling Waters Preserve, Glasco, New York
RECENT STORIES
Climate Change Communication Class—Eckerd College
Skaket Beach, Orleans Massachusetts. This beach is one of my favorite places on the Cape to watch the sunset. The bay you see in the picture is becoming more and more of a wounded place. [...]
Radical Joy for Hard Times: Healing ourselves as we try to heal the world around us
Although I like to think that taking my Climate Change Communication class is a rewarding journey, I know that can also be emotionally taxing. We spend the entire semester talking about climate change, obviously, so [...]
Recreating beauty in a wounded national park
The south-east of Australia lost much of its wild places over the (southern) summer of 2019/20. Uncontainable bush fires ran through from August 2019 to early February 2020. People died, houses were lost and forest [...]