Monongahela River
Map
Map
Story & Experience
Act of Beauty: Song ‘The Earth is Our Mother’ and a naked baby in the river!
Notes about the Experience (What participants said, what they experienced, any difference you noticed about the place at the end of your Earth Exchange, reactions, etc.):
It was interesting as we were approaching the spot, we all noticed that there had been an intensive Japanese knotweed removal that obviously must have included herbicide usage. Then there were flocks of Canada geese and many goslings and chicks along the riverbank and coming at us.
We sang the beautiful song ‘The Earth is Our Mother’. We chatted and played. We built our bird out of driftwood, feathers, and more. Then my 10 month old son decided it was time to play. First with the bird, then with the sand and then right towards the water! First I let him just get his clothes wet. He was really eager, so I took the clothes off and left the diaper on. It was apparent though that he would just get soaked so off went the diaper. A naked little Earth citizen loving the river, playing and insisting on exploring it fully. It was an act of beauty in itself. We then shared some dark chocolate and talked about how the rivers had originally not been so wide. They were dammed way back when to make room for barges to move up and down transporting coal. It was a mellow, relaxed experience and we all got our feet wet making our beauty.
Act of Beauty: Song ‘The Earth is Our Mother’ and a naked baby in the river!
Notes about the Experience (What participants said, what they experienced, any difference you noticed about the place at the end of your Earth Exchange, reactions, etc.):
It was interesting as we were approaching the spot, we all noticed that there had been an intensive Japanese knotweed removal that obviously must have included herbicide usage. Then there were flocks of Canada geese and many goslings and chicks along the riverbank and coming at us.
We sang the beautiful song ‘The Earth is Our Mother’. We chatted and played. We built our bird out of driftwood, feathers, and more. Then my 10 month old son decided it was time to play. First with the bird, then with the sand and then right towards the water! First I let him just get his clothes wet. He was really eager, so I took the clothes off and left the diaper on. It was apparent though that he would just get soaked so off went the diaper. A naked little Earth citizen loving the river, playing and insisting on exploring it fully. It was an act of beauty in itself. We then shared some dark chocolate and talked about how the rivers had originally not been so wide. They were dammed way back when to make room for barges to move up and down transporting coal. It was a mellow, relaxed experience and we all got our feet wet making our beauty.
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