Some Meanderings on My Reading

In an attempt to keep my library fines to a minimum, I am working on finishing the stack of CT River books that I checked out at the beginning of the summer. (I feel so lucky to live in an area with a fantastic interlibrary loan system and with an amazing selection of books on the CT River.)

I just finished reading Nathaniel Tripp's book, Confluence: A River, The Environment, Politics, and The Fate of All Humanity. The book is a mix of history, politics, adventure, and anecdote. Tripp talks about his river journey with Vermont's Governor, Howard Dean. He confesses his illegally kept snowshoe rabbit. He rails against conflict of politics. He explains the science behind the water quality and fish population problems in the CT River. And, he shares an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of this river.

I have a lot of comments about the book, and I've written a lot in my expedition notebook. So, I will just share a few of my favorite quotes and most interesting learnings here. Quotes in italics, my comments in brown.

...Scientists are able to take a small bone called an otolith from the heads of anadromous fish and analyze the trace chemicals in it to determine which rivers that fish swam in. Rivers, and their tributaries, each have their own "fingerprints" that can be followed to the source and are recorded in layers of fish bone. (32)
Wow!

No matter how large or small, where the valley broadens and water slows, it begins to meander in a series of graceful curves, for rivers, too feel the Coriolis effect of the earth's spin, and their flow, too, spins like a corkscrew as it travels downstream. Given a uniform bed, the river's course becomes a sine wave, with the wavelength and amplitude depending on flow and gradient. Erosion and deposition of sediments is a constant process at each bend; centrifugal force throws water against the outside bank, cutting away at it, while fine sands and silt are deposited on the inside bank. (41)
This one is for Mr. Robinson. I am amazed by how much math there in in rivers.

I tell them that all great civilizations began beside rivers because of the rich soil, how wealth begins with soil. I show them how we are trying to stabilize the river with streamside plantings to prevent the erosion of valuable soil... (47)
I was excited to read this quote because it connects to exactly what Ms. Kang and I have talked about related to the social studies curriculum for 7th grade--river civilizations.

One of Reagan's first acts [as president] was to remove the solar panels that President Carter had installed on the White House roof. His administration wanted to put the memory of the energy crisis behind as quickly as possible. (62)
This book talked a lot about energy use. One of the main problems that the some of the fish are facing is that their habitat is being destroyed by dams along the river. It was interesting to note that back before 1950, there was such a low demand for electricity that the power companies didn't want to build any more hydroelectric plants. By the 1970's we had really increased our demand for energy. One of the main causes for that (according to the book which seems to have a rather liberal philosophy--that I agree with) energy demand is air conditioners. The hydroelectric dams are designed to be able to store up their water and release it at peak energy consumption times--in the middle of summer when so many people are using their air conditioners.

My fondest memories of school are the times when I was supposed to be in it but wasn't. (67)
This quote stuck out at me because the author is very intelligent, but really reject traditional schooling. I find this particularly interesting because Duggan is trying to prevent our students from having this feeling. We want to take learning beyond the walls of the classroom so that our students have fond memories of school.

They still had the two most precious things life offers anywhere: a deep connection to the mystery of life itself, and a deep connection to each other. (89)
Tripp said this in relation to the Cree people that he went to visit in Canada. In my study of community, I have also found that this connection to community is important. I think we have to remember to focus on this in our expedition this year.

There is little regulation of roadside advertising in New Hampshire, and zoning is nearly absen in the New Hampshire towns of the Upper Valley, being perceived as one of the most egregious examples fo the loss of property rights. While Vermont villages remain relatively compact and neat, those on the New Hampshire side of the river have often lost their center, with business and residences meandering across abandoned farms and woodlots. Trailer parks and shopping centers are welcomed, and often locate in the floodplains at the river's edge, attracting displaced Vermonters. Vermont, on the other hand, is largely underlain by softer and sweeter derivatives of limestone....The state...started publishing Vermont Life, the first state tourism magazine in the nation. It portrayed a romantic place with white clapboard villages and rolling farmscapes, where friendly people in checkered shirts made maple syrup, cheese, and crafts. (94)
This is exactly the difference I saw when I was up in the CT Lakes region. When I crossed over the border from Vermont into New Hampshire, I noticed a clear difference between the two. I couldn't put it into words to describe it, but Tripp has described it perfectly.

We began enthusiastically planning the fieldwork, consulting local residents in the selection of the sampling sites. During one of our local planning sessions, a representative from the consulting firm that would be doing the work happened to casually mention that its protocol required technicians to wear Tyvek suits with rubber boots and gloves while doing the work. Suddenly what had seemed like it might be both fun and instructive began to look ridiculous as well....There were already rumors of men in chemical warfare suits being spotted at night.... We asked why on earth anyone would want to wear a hot, sticky, Tyvek suit to take samples from a river in which the rest of us cavorted wearing swimsuits or less, and they answered in humorless monotone that it wasn't just the river, it was the possibility of ticks and poison ivy on the shorelines too. What a weird society we have come to live in. Perhaps it is the constant threat of litigation that has made us all so defensive. Certainly it is in the interest of the makers of Tyvek to encourage people to wear one of their suits at all times. But it is more than an affront to me personally, as one who believes in both science and common sense, and proposes that they may in fact be the same thing. (135)
I know that quote is rather long, but I think it is super funny. I am all about being safe, and wearing long pants if I am walking in an area with a lot of ticks. But, wearing chemical protection suits just seems to be going too far!

Quad Cities

After a fun-filled day in Hannibal, Missouri, Tanya and I headed north on the Mississippi River (by car, not by boat) to Moline, Illinois, part of the Quad Cities area.

The Mississippi River passes right in the middle of the Quad Cities. The Mississippi River trail, a bicycle trail that follows the length of the river, is well-developed in this area. We took a walk along the bike path to see what one city is doing to unify the city and the river.

You can view my pictures of Moline's bike path here. I also picked up several maps and brochures about the area that I will be able to use at school this year when we are looking at the CT River's bike path.

Mark Twain's Home

Part of the purpose for my grant this summer was to visit Hannibal, Missouri, boyhood home of Mark Twain. Springfield's curriculum for 7th grade requires us to read Tom Sawyer. Since I will either be teaching that or excerpts from Huck Finn, I wanted to visit the place where it all started, to bring back some interesting artifacts for my students.

I met up with my friend Tanya (a friend from high school who now lives in Madison, Wisconsin), and we drove down to Hannibal together. Tanya is also an English teacher (although she teaches college), so visiting the home of a famous author was the prefect nerdy English teacher trip for us.

The Hannibal website makes it look like there is enough to keep you busy for days in that town. Lucky for us, we planned to do some more exploration north along the Mississippi River, so we only allotted one full day for Mark Twain's boyhood town.

The main thing I noticed about Hannibal is that it almost seemed like a ghost town. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, and the streets were nearly empty--of cars and people. The next day wasn't much better. Apparently Hannibal doesn't have much going on aside from its Mark Twain fame, and I guess that doesn't really draw huge crowds of tourists. In fact, the biggest crowd we saw all day was in the coffee shop where we were taking a break after touring the museum. While we were there, several reporters and politicians arrived for a press conference with one of the candidates for Lt. Governor of Missouri.

We saw all of Hannibal's major sites: the museum, the Tom Sawyer fence, Tom Sawyer's hill, and the Tom Sawyer cave by lunch time. After lunch we took a cruise on a riverboat to see the Mississippi River from another angle. A little more luxurious than Huck Finn's raft, but the view was probably comparable.

After spending the day in Hannibal, I can honestly say, I understand why Huck Finn had to get on that raft and escape town (I mean in addition to the fact that he had an abusive father and he didn't want to be civilized by the Widow). There was nothing else to do but escape! No wonder Tom Sawyer had such a wild imagination, if he couldn't invent anything to do, he would have been bored to tears in Hannibal. Now, I will admit that the town may have been a bit more exciting in Mark Twain's days, but I hardly saw any local kids the whole time I was there.

By the end of the day in Hannibal, I had collected several pictures, a couple of postcards (to send to my students) and a couple of books to add to my classroom library. Hopefully I will be able to use some of this to make our studies of Mark Twain more interesting this year!

The Amana Colonies

On day five of RAGBRAI, we rode through the Amana Colonies. Although the colonies were scenic, we didn't linger there for long during the ride because of their disappointing lack of food. However, we returned to stay in the Amana Colonies after finishing the ride, and I learned a lot about the history of this community.

The Amana Colonies remind me a bit of the Shaker settlements in New England. In the mid 1800's a group of Germans left Germany to find more religious freedom. They initially settled outside of Buffalo, New York, but when that area became too crowded, they purchased 25,000 acres in the Iowa River valley and moved out west. In Iowa they established six villages, and one of the first communal religious societies in America.

The Amana colonies were self-sufficient. They grew all their own food and made all of their own products. Each person in the colony had a specific job to contribute to the well-being of the community. A person might be assigned the job of farmer, carpenter, baker, or even a doctor (the doctors were sent outside of Amana to receive more education). No one received any money for his/her labor, but everyone received food, shelter, medical services, and education from the community. Religion was very important in the community, and residents were required to attend eleven church services each week. The residents of the villages took a lot of pride in their work, and produced high quality textiles, foods, and machinery.

The Amana Colonies underwent the "Great Change" during the Great Depression. The residents of the society decided that the communal life was no longer working for them. They divided up their land and resources so that everything was owned by individuals instead of by the community as a whole. They continued to manufacture products like textiles, food, and appliances, and the quality of their products was recognized nationwide.

Today the Amana Colonies are preserved as a part of history. The buildings in the villages all look similar to how they would have looked 80 years ago. Some of the residents are descendants of the original settlers, but others have moved here more recently. In addition to museums and shops with traditional foods and products, the Amana Villages seem to be home to a fairly large artist community. I spent a morning walking through the village of Homestead and looking at the farms. Later, I browsed through the village of Amana. One of the highlights of the visit was talking with a woman who worked at the museum. She was raised in Amana, but had moved away as soon as she was old enough. She told us that at the time she left there just weren't enough educational opportunities in the village. But, she eventually grew to appreciate the sense of community in the small villages, and she came back there to retire.

Here are some more pictures of the Amana Colonies.

RAGBRAI Photos

So, I never got around to writing a more detailed description of my RAGBRAI trip. But, I have finally uploaded some more pictures from the trip. You can view those here. Or, if you belong to Facebook, you can view my dad's RAGBRAI photos here.

Highlights of my RAGBRAI Adventure

I returned from Iowa a few days ago. Before I take the time to write a long story about my experience, I want to share the highlights and some pictures. So here are some of my favorite things about RAGBRAI, in no particular order.

*The pie (I nearly ate an entire pie by myself during the time of the ride.)

*A recumbent bike disguised as a banana.

*Eating fresh baked kolaches in Solon, Iowa (Kolaches are a Czech pastry that my grandma used to make. There are a lot of Czech people in that region of Iowa.)

*A side trip to Waterloo to learn about my family history

*Riding up almost 21,000 feet of hills across the state.

*Mr. Porkchop (A man who has been cooking porkchops at RAGBRAI for years. He drives his pink school bus to a different spot along the ride every day, and he yells, "Pork Chhhhooooop" as you ride by.)

*Coasting downhill toward the Mississippi River in LeClair

*The corn fields, corn fields, corn fields. Oh, and did I mention the cornfields?

*Visiting Nevada, Iowa (Gospel singers and "Chris Cakes," a Christian form of pancakes that would absolve you of all your sins committed during RAGBRAI--or so they said.)

*Our homestay with a 90 year old woman in Jefferson.


*The excitement caused by rumors that Lance was on the ride. (Lance Armstrong).

*Being stopped for a train in Boone and getting a free key chain because of it

*The fact that I rode almost 450 miles--ALL THE WAY ACROSS IOWA!!!

*The costumes (There were riders dressed like bananas and riders dressed like cows. Team Spam had cans of Spam attached to their helmets. One team wore grass skirts and had bobbing hula dancers attached to their heads. One couple wore inflatable turtle swimming tubes to survive all the flooding.)

*Getting to ride with my dad and little brother and to hang out with my stepmom and aunt.

*The fact that there was an Elvis impersonator in several towns we rode through.

*Poppin Johnny's tractor-powered homemade ice cream.

Why RAGBRAI?

In a few days I'll be heading to Iowa to ride in the RAGBRAI, a seven day bicycle tour that goes from the western edge of the state to the eastern edge. Why, when the focus of my expedition has been rivers, am I headed to Iowa for a bike ride?

This trip will take me through the heart of several small towns, and the idea of community is also a focus of my expedition. RAGBRAI is known for "the sights, the sounds, the friends, the food, but most of all the hospitality of the warm and friendly people of Iowa."

Iowa is bordered by the Missouri River on its western edge and by the Mississippi River on its eastern edge. "Over the years, a tradition has developed for riders to dip their rear tire in the Missouri River or its tributaries as they begin their seven-day journey east. When they complete the ride, they will dip their front tire in the Mississippi River."

This year in particular, with all the flooding in Iowa, my journey will allow me to look at how rivers can destroy and at the same time build up communities. Even though the floods have caused a lot of damage to many areas of the state, the people of Iowa are still joining together to make this bike ride happen. (If you are interested in reading more about the floods, go to the Des Moines Register's website. If you want to make a donation to help out the people who were flooded, go to the state government's website.)

So, since my grant was taking me a few hours from Iowa to study Hannibal, Missouri and the Mississippi River, it just made sense to go a little bit further and include a bike ride across Iowa in my expedition.

Advertising The CT River Byway

While I was up in New Hampshire, I picked up a brochure titled, "Discover the Connecticut River Byway of Vermont and New Hampshire." This brochure sells the CT River to me, and makes me think it is the best place to spend my vacation time. It uses catchy phrases like, "The history of new England's longest and most powerful river reaches back into time," and "This mighty river flows through northern forests, fertile flood plains and historic towns and villages--connecting people and communities on its way to the sea." This language makes the river seem powerful and useful. It makes it seem something to be appreciated and celebrated.

As I flip through the brochure, I notice the upper valley (towns along the CT River north of Massachusetts) being sold with beautiful pictures appealing to a variety of interests. There is a page advertising the CT River Byway as "The Perfect New England Summer Drive." That is followed by a page for fall, complete with pumpkins and golden leaves. The next page, winter, shows children sledding, a horse drawn sleigh ride, and a steaming cup of hot chocolate. That is followed by a page celebrating agriculture--apples, barns, maple syrup, cows. Last, there is a page advertising the art, history and heritage of the region.

The brochure makes me want to go back to Vermont and New Hampshire. Something about the four seasons makes a place seem more appealing. It reminds me of a brochure I had (one of the few English brochures) for the region where I lived in Japan. The region was called Tohoku, and the advertising campaign focused on the fact that the region was at 40 degrees north latitude and, therefore, had four seasons. I consulted that brochure on a regular basis to remind myself of all the fun places I still needed to visit right in my own backyard.

The reason I am reflecting about this and posting it on my blog is that I am wondering how we can advertise Springfield in a similar way. Actually, perhaps a better question would be, do we already advertise Springfield in a similar way? Ms. Kang, Mr. Robinson, and I stopped at the information center down by the waterfront area. Although we picked up a lot of brochures, I didn't see one that grabbed my attention quite like this. So, that makes me wonder, what do we need to do to make Springfield seem as appealing as any of these other towns along the CT River?

I know you don't have a copy of the brochure, but the CT River Byway also has a website. You can check it out to see similar advertising for yourself. Springfield also has a website as part of the Pioneer Valley. It would be interesting to spend some time comparing the way that different towns along the CT River advertise their towns, and to look at the audience they are advertising to.

Journey to the Source

I'm usually very a very organized person. I plan out almost everything, and usually have a rough itinerary before I head out on a road trip. But for some reason, I didn't do that when I went up to the Connecticut Lakes Region. And, I liked traveling this way. It made me feel more like an adventurer, discovering the headwaters of the CT for the first time.

Up until a week ago, all that I knew about the area is that I would find the source of the CT River at the Fourth Connecticut Lake. I hadn't looked closely at a map, but I knew that I had to drive very far north in order to get there. I had spent the past several weeks telling my friends, "I'm going to northern Vermont to see the beginning of the CT River." It wasn't until I studied my road atlas just before I pulled out of my driveway that I realized the CT Lakes are actually in northern New Hampshire!

I drove straight up the 91 for a few hours until it dumped me off in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a historic town around the Passumpsic River, part of the CT River watershed. St. Johnsbury is considered the gateway to the Northeast Kingdom, and it is the first place along my route where the scenery looked notably different. From St. Johnsbury I drove out the winding Rte 2 that follows the Passumpsic River (or at least I think that's which river it is), eventually crossing over into New Hampshire. Shortly after crossing the New Hampshire border, I entered into The Great North Woods, and from that point in the drive I really began to feel like I was in a wilderness area.

As soon as I entered The Great North Woods, it began pouring rain. I went through Lancaster and Colebrook, NH, both CT River Waypoint Communities, but I could barely see them because of the rain. Finding my campground was also a bit challenging since I could barely read any road signs in the rain and mist. My initial plan had been to stay in Deer Mountain Campground since it's right in the middle of the CT Lakes, but an employee at a rest area had told me that campground is closed. I didn't know if I should believe him, but since Lake Francis campground came up first, and I was tired of driving, I stopped there. I later discovered that Deer Mountain really was open, but Lake Francis was also a beautiful place to camp. I ended up with a lakeview tent platform (although you can't really see the lake in that photo--it's right through those evergreen trees), and I could hear a loon calling each morning and evening.

From the campground, it was about a half hour drive to the parking lot for the 4th Connecticut Lake trail. The drive up there was amazing; for the entire half hour I didn't see any houses, people, or cars on the road. I felt like I was truly in the wilderness. It may not have really been wilderness, but I definitely wasn't sure where I was. I was looking everywhere for a sign for the 4th CT Lake, and before I knew it I had driven right over the US border into Canada. Ooops! I stopped at the border station and said to the customs officer, "Uhm, I'm not sure how I ended up here, but I really don't want to go to Canada. I'm just trying to find the 4th CT Lake." That customs officer sent me back across the border to the US customs officer to whom I said, "I'm not really coming back from Canada, I'm just trying to find the 4th CT Lake." He told me where to park and showed me where the trail started. (The parking lot was in a pretty obvious place, and I'm sure the both customs agents were laughing at me since I was the only car up there and was driving in circles across an international border.)


The headwaters of the Connecticut River, the 4th Connecticut Lake and 78 acres of land around it, are managed by The Nature Conservancy. The trail to the lake starts at the top of a hill behind the US Customs station. Although it's a short trail (1.7 miles round trip), it starts off with a rather steep climb and with some amazing views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.


At the top of the hill, you dip down a little again into a small valley. The 4th Connecticut Lake is in an ecosystem that is somewhat unusual for New Hampshire. It is a tarn, a lake that was formed by a glacier thousands of years ago.




The Connecticut River itself is tiny at its source. There were actually two spots where water flowed out of the lake. In one spot it was just a trickle, no wider than my hand. In the other spot, it was slightly wider--about wide enough to step across on four stepping stones. Apparently these two outlets take turns being the source of the Connecticut River. The beavers in the area dam up different sections, and that is what determines where the river actually flows.

Nathaniel Trip describes the source wonderfully in his book, Confluence: A River, The Environment, Politics, and The Fate of All Humanity. He says, "This river begins as all rivers do, with a drop of rain, a wisp of fog. It gathers on stone, amid fern, and weeps from the branches of wind-shaped spruce. The movement downhill is silent at first here where the bare bones of the earth meet the sky. The dripping and seeping seems of little consequence amid the tumble of postglacial boulders, the dark silence of high-altitude forest, the lichen, and the reindeer moss."

The whole area is so isolated and peaceful, I felt like I was the only person who had been up there in years. While walking around the lake, I breathed in the scent of all the balsam fir trees, I stopped to listen to the frogs croaking, and I watched what I thought was a pitcher plant to see it eat an insect. I wished I had brought my lunch, because I wanted to stay there for hours. But, instead, I headed back down the mountain and down the river...an explorer coming home from the wilderness.

Looking For Moose

Apparently The Great North Woods (where the CT Lakes are located) is famous for its moose population. I didn't actually learn this until I saw a bright yellow road sign saying, "caution, moose next 10 miles."

"Cool, moose." I thought to myself. I hadn't seen a moose since I was in Maine several years ago. "This is going to be an exciting trip for wildlife viewing."

After a few miles, I came to another sign, "Brake for moose, it could save your life. Hundreds of collisions." Under ordinary circumstances, this sign wouldn't have really concerned me. I mean, it's not like I was texting on my cell phone and polishing my toenails while driving; I was looking at the road. And, generally, I like to think that my vision is good enough to spot a 1200 pound animal standing right in front of me. But, for some reason, that sign reminded me of an episode of Myth Busters that I had recently watched.

In that episode of Myth Busters, the hosts quoted several statistics about car accidents that had been caused by drivers hitting moose. They talked about the fact that moose are often hard to spot because they are so tall. Drivers only see the moose's legs, and not their bodies, so the drivers don't notice them until it's too late to stop. The mythbusters decided to test out whether accelerating into the moose instead of braking would create enough force to fling it over the roof of the car and leave the car unharmed. No such luck. Essentially, no matter what speed the driver was going, the test moose pretty much totaled the car.

I kept replaying those moose crash images in my head. That, combined with the fact that it was raining steadily and was quite foggy was enough to set me into a panic. Every tree I saw out of the corner of my eyes was a moose leg. (And, believe me, there are A LOT of trees up there--it's the Great North Woods.) Every time the wind blew, I thought a moose was running out from the forest into the middle of the road to stand there and watch me crash into him. "All right you moose," I wanted to yell, "just get out here and finish me off already! Put me out of my misery!" But they didn't. I just drove and drove and drove, through fog and rain and panic--and never saw a moose once.

The next day, after the rain had stopped and I had a chance to realize how silly my panic had been, I decided that I would go look for a moose. After all, the locals had nicknamed this place "moose alley." Moose are one of the biggest tourist attractions up there. And, as long as I had wasted all that energy worrying about seeing a moose, I ought to actually see one. However, those moose warning signs seem to be a bit overly cautious because, although I looked for days, I didn't see one moose. None of the other people I talked to at the campground had seen one either. The moose all seemed to be hiding. So, I headed home, disappointed in my wildlife viewing.

Aside from a few chipmunks and a loon, I didn't see any wildlife on that trip. Not until the very end of the trip anyway. About an hour after I got home, I was driving south on the 91 outside of West Springfield, and there by the roadside, was a deer just standing there watching traffic.

The Source Pictures

This week I went to the source of the CT River. I will write about my trip in the next day or two. Meanwhile, here is a link for pictures of the trip.

How To Post A Comment

Ms. Kang told me that she talked to some of our students at Duggan last week and that many people are not sure how to post a comment on the blog. I will try to explain it here.

Step 1
At the end of each posting/article you will see a line that says "posted by jenhen108 at some time." Then it says "0 comments" or "1 comment" or something like that. Click where it says "comments."

Step 2
After you click on the "comments" link, you will come to a page that says "Post a comment on Hen on the River" at the top. You will see a box on the right side of the page. Type your comment there.

Step 3
Type the "word verification" word. This is here so that the website it more secure.

Step 4
Choose an identity. If you don't already have a google account (gmail), you should click on the link that says, "sign up here." That will bring you to a new page. Follow the direction on that page (you have to type in an email address that you already have). That page will ask you if you want to start your own blog (if you're at least 13 years old).

Step 5
Once you have a google ID, you can go back to the posting and enter your ID and make your post.

Hopefully that helps. Just play around with it and try it out.

One Look At the Connecticut River

Last week Ms. Kang, Mr. Robinson, and I were working on planning our expedition for the coming school year. On Thursday we went down to the Connecticut River in Holyoke and in Springfield to do our own fieldwork.

In Holyoke we stopped just below the fish ladder. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see fish swimming in the ladder because it's only open in the spring. The section of the river in Holyoke looked like a nice place for fishing.

The section of the river in Springfield is much wider. There is a nice bicycle path along the Springfield section. However, the sitting area in the Springfield section is right across from the wastewater treatment plant--not such a nice view.

This week I'm up in Vermont checking out the northern reaches of the CT River.

You can go to Flickr to see more photos of the CT River in Holyoke and Springfield.

Pictures from NOC

As I said, I didn't have a waterproof camera, so I didn't take any pictures myself. However, one of the other students from the clinic just sent some pictures that they took.

In the top picture, we are on the lake just beginning to learn how to paddle our kayaks. I am the one in the red boat with the red helmet and red PFD.

In the second picture, we are practicing hip snaps, a technique that we also used for boat to boat rescues. I am the one in the red boat on the right, pulling the yellow boat closer to me.




In the picture below that, we are catching an eddy and waiting to ferry across the river.



I am not in the picture on the bottom, but that is a good example of the type of rapids that we paddled through on the rivers. Some parts were faster than that, and other parts were slower.

The Seal Launch

One skill I’ve learned during this class is how to do a seal launch. If you picture the way that a seal gets into the water, you will get a pretty good idea of what a seal launch is. But, instead of sliding down hill on our bellies, we slid down the hill inside our kayaks.

We did our first seal launch on Tuesday at the top of the hill at our put-in spot at Fontana Lake. The hill there descended about twenty feet at a 55 degree angle. We climbed into our kayaks at the top of the hill, secured our helmets and spray skirts, and inched our kayaks forward until gravity took over and sped us quickly toward the water. This launch was moderately terrifying, primarily because the hill was scattered with rocks that could flip us before ever reaching the water.

Today’s entry into the Nanny (the local name for the Nantahala River) took the seal launch a step further. Since we put in at a location where the bank steeply dropped off into the river, Laura told us, “We’re going to do a seal launch off that rock.” “That rock” was a large flat rock jutting out from the edge of the gorge. On top it was large enough to hold four kayaks and five or six people. It narrowed underneath as it got closer to the river so that the top of the rock was well over the middle of the river and about eight feet above the surface of the water. Basically doing a seal launch off that rock was the equivalent of jumping over the edge of a cliff--with a giant boat attached at your waist.

Although I was feeling like I would probably take the less daring route into the water (inching my boat step by step through the foliage at the least steep part of the bank), I decided to watch my classmates before making the decision.

“Just sit up straight, don’t lean back, and keep your paddle low and balanced across your lap,” said Laura as she modeled the process for us. She climbed into her boat, secured her spray skirt, and asked Payton to push her over the edge. I watched the bow of her kayak point straight down toward the water, and then I heard the splash below. She was still upright! Cam repeated the process, and Josh, and then Phil. All of them made it right side up.

I took one more look over the side of the rock, and then decided to give it a try before my courage failed me. I climbed into my kayak and repeated the instructions back to Laura. Before I had time to second guess myself and change my mind, Payton and Jim pushed me over the edge. Here’s what happened next:

Scrape. (The noise of the kayak on the rock.) Whoa! (The noise of my mind realizing that I was falling.) Gulp! (The noise of me breathing in on the way down.) Splash! (The noise of my boat touching down.)

The whole thing lasted only seconds. My boat rocked a few times on the water, and then I drifted toward shore to make room for the next student to jump.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of either seal launch because I don't have a waterproof camera. However, here is a link to a picture of someone else doing a seal launch off the same rock, http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1041285481037684491lozTVW
and here is a link to a video of a seal launch on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xjdl7Uy6BM

Day One At NOC: The Wet Exit

I arrived last night at Nantahala Outdoor Center, and began my introductory kayaking clinic this morning....
In the following story my thoughts will be in italics, and everything else will be in regular font....

I have a confession to make: I am afraid of water. Well, that’s not entirely true, because I like to drink water, to bathe in water, to swim in water, and to float on top of water. I just don’t like the idea of being submerged under the water, unable to breathe, for an extended period of time. This is one reason that I decided to take this class—to learn how to calmly flip my boat back over if I end up upside down.

This morning we learned some skills in the parking lot before actually going down to the lake. We put on our spray skirts, booties, paddle jackets, and helmets. Laura said, “Now I want you to get into your boats so that we can practice the steps for the wet exit.”

“What, already?!!” I thought. “I can’t believe we are going to start with the hardest, most terrifying lesson!”

“The first step,” said Laura, “is the tuck.”

I bent forward toward my spray skirt. With my face pressed against the neoprene, I realized, "I am about twenty minutes away from doing this underwater with NO AIR to breathe!!! What was I thinking signing up for this class? Is it too late to back out? Why did I even apply for this grant in the first place?” Luckily we had taken a van to the lake because, if my car had been near by, I might have driven home right then.

“The next step,” Laura said, “is to take a second to relax.”

“Ha! Relax?” I thought. “Small chance of that happening! It’s more likely that this kayak will levitate into the air.” I could feel a fluttering in my stomach, my breathing got more rapid, and my pulse went up to about 200 beats per minute.

“Now, tap your hands three times on the side of your kayak,” continued Laura. “Let’s try that all together: tuck, relax, tap. "

Step four was to pull the loop of your spray skirt to release yourself from the kayak, and step five was to place your hands on the side of the cockpit and push yourself out.

“And step six is to start coughing because you’ve been down there for so long that your lungs start sucking in water."

After one more practice round we carried our boats down to the water and jumped in to cool off and check our PFDs. Then Laura called for a volunteer to demonstrate. I stood watching Phil and thinking only about how to live down the shame of not being able to do this. Between some deep breaths and helmet adjustments, I managed to procrastinate until last. At least the rest of the students were all paddling around instead of sitting there staring at me.

I tentatively paddled my boat a few feet into the lake until I was right next to our other instructor, Joe. He explained that the first step was for him to roll me all the way over so I could see what it felt like. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“No, and I won’t be ready for about a million years, so you might as well leave me alone and go help the other students,” I thought.
“I guess so,” I said.

Joe rolled my kayak, and, as I popped back out of the water, he asked, “How was that?”

“Definitely ranked in the top ten worst experiences of my life,” I thought.
“Scary.” I said.

Joe then said, “Now I’m going to roll you over again and keep you under there for longer. Just tap your hands on the side of the boat when you’re ready to come up.”

“What, the fifteen minutes you kept me under there the first time wasn’t long enough?”
“Ok,” I said.

Joe rolled me again, kept me under for as long as I could handle it, and then rolled me back up. “How was that?” he asked.

“Hey, that was actually better than the first time,” I thought.
“I feel a little panicky,” I said.

“Ok. I’m going to roll you again. This time I want you to move around and get comfortable while you’re down there. Move left and right and back.”

He rolled me upside down, and I thought, “This is awkward and weird, yet getting a little less freaky.” Tap, tap, tap. And he rolled me back up.

“That was better. You were under there for two and a half seconds,” Joe said. “I timed you. I think you’re ready to do it now.”

“Wet exit now!? Not until I’ve rolled under about fifty more times.”
“Ok,” I said. My heart started racing again, so he gave me a moment to calm down. Joe told me stories about his own rolling experiences while I managed to return my heart rate to only about twice its normal speed. Then we started.

Flip. Tuck. Tap, tap , tap. Pull. Eject.
“Wow, is that it? That was actually pretty easy.”

So, today I got more comfortable hanging out upside down underwater. And I’m one step closer to conquering my fear of being stuck under water.

A Question For My Students

When I was talking about my expedition in class on Tuesday, Lam told me that he plans to go fishing on the Connecticut River this summer. Now I'm starting to wonder--does anyone else have plans on the Connecticut River this summer? Or, do you have any stories about the Connecticut River?

You can post short responses here. And, don't forget to think like writers this summer. I bet you'll have lots of good small moment seed stories to tell. Don't forget to write them down while they're still fresh in your mind!

Hen's Egg (AKA The Idea for my Expedition)

As all of my students and some of my friends and family know, I teach at Duggan Middle School, an Expeditionary Learning School in Springfield, MA. This blog has been created as part of a Fund For Teachers grant to support teacher growth and curriculum development during the summer. Early this spring I wrote a grant to fund my expedition along the Connecticut River. I figured that some of you might be interested in reading some excerpts from my original grant proposal.

If any of this is confusing to anyone, feel free to post questions, and I will try to reply. I know that some of the words here might be difficult for my students. (Remember you can go to WordCentral.com to look up the meanings.) On the other hand, my students are probably the ONLY ones who know what a learning target is.

Here's my grant proposal:

"So, I started browsing through the social studies curriculum frameworks to look for content that might drive my team's next expedition. I was caught by the concept of civilizations rising up around the river. I connected this idea to the fact that Springfield has risen up right alongside the Connecticut River. Although the river runs right through our city and, at one point in history it provided an abundance of economic uses and recreational opportunities, today it is largely ignored. As I reflected on this reality, I started thinking about all of the ways I could teach the content in my frameworks while also helping our community to renew its connection with the river. The more I thought about this idea, the more it seemed possible to build an expedition around the river. I proposed my idea to the social studies, science, and math teachers on my team, and they all agree that we can create a fantastic expedition around this topic. They also feel that their curriculum for the next year can be taught through this lens....

This summer I would like to learn to kayak and then kayak on some local rivers, mainly the Connecticut. I would also like to explore the connection between communities and their rivers. In my work, I would like to meet several learning targets.

1. I can experience an expedition of my own in order to better understand how my students feel and think during and expedition. (I selected a kayaking trip as this expedition because I am passionate about outdoor pursuits but have never had any official paddling training. I am both excited and intimidated about the prospect of being able to develop this skill.

2. I can learn more about a topic that will unify our team's curricula for the 2008-2009 school year. And, as a subset of that learning target, I can identify the best section of the Connecticut River to take my students on an introductory river camping trip this fall.

3. I can determine what big ideas and guiding questions about the river will maintain students' interest as we teach the content of our expedition.

4. I can learn more about how communities have worked together with various partners to enact change in their communities, and I can use this knowledge to devise ways to renew our community's interest in its river.

5. I can keep a journal of my learning in order to better understand how a journal is used as a centerpiece of instruction in an English Language Arts class.

6. I can blog my adventures to help my team members stay connected to our expedition during the summer and to pique my students' interest in the expedition topic and guiding questions."