for Madison and Jake

(on the pleasures of unexpected riverside meetings--also, a new essay from Belle)

Late Thursday afternoon, the girls and I walked to the Haw River and back again—not our usual walk, which is a wide, meandering circle through the woods. Instead we walked straight down our steep gravel driveway, along the weedy side of the road, and directly to the public swim spot. We weren’t planning to swim, but just wanted to say we’d been somewhere, after quarantining at home with COVID and barely even going outside since Sunday night.

Bea and Harriet missed their first week of school, and my second week of school was conducted remotely via Zoom. Richard had been away, to keep him safe from infection—first at a hotel, then his sister’s (thank you, Janet!). On Monday, while on a Zoom call, I heard the terrible news about the deadly shooting at UNC. All week I tried to keep the news away from the girls, snatching off the radio when it was mentioned. I let them hear a lot, and we talk about a lot, but the terrible reality and heartbreaking frequency of school shootings is not something I want them to think about when they go to school or when they watch me go to school.

Instead, I texted about it with my friend Cat—the inadequacy of response from administrators, the inability (because of the strong grip NC’s Republican legislators have on universities) for anyone to say “guns” or “gun control” or “goddamn the NRA.” Over Zoom, I told my students how helpless and sad I felt, how sorry that we could not do more for them. How they deserve more from us than lessons about how to hide from people with guns.

Thursday was the day after a major storm, the remnants of Idalia, and that afternoon the light was clear and golden. As we approached the river’s rocky embankment, I saw a young man in waders taking a water sample. We waved hello, and he said, “You probably think I’m taking samples for Haw River Assembly, which is a great group, but I’m doing this for Science on the Fly.” I wrote it down—we’re always looking for cool citizen science opportunities—and we noticed a young woman with a notebook, sitting on some rocks next to the water.

I told her we were staying back because we had COVID, and she told us she’d just gotten over it too. Her bout was mild, and she’d spent her quarantine paddling up and down the Haw, collecting and sorting trash. As an environmental science and engineering graduate student at UNC, she also thinks about how to represent data and information, so she made charts and graphs. “Would you like to see them?”

She texted them to us, and because the cell service by the river isn’t great I didn’t get them right away. Instead we noticed (and Bea photographed) this handsome leopard frog:

Later, the graphs showed up, and we were amazed by their beauty and creativity and clarity:

The graphs are obviously beautiful, useful, and impressive. They weren’t made for an assignment, but just because Madison wanted to do something helpful with her time, and because she wanted to challenge herself to use her skills.

Here is a photo Madison sent me from her time on the river:

Sometimes the people “in charge” get it wrong. We say the wrong things, do the minimum, maybe especially because we think that we have so much to lose—what if someone sees us speaking out, stepping out of line?

But it helps me, as a mom, to know that my daughters live in a world that is layered and layered with action and care. People doing citizen science and paddling up and down the river, picking up trash and figuring out how to share, to connect with others. Or publishing powerful student newspapers that speak louder than any university president can. I’m really happy that I met Madison and Jake (who weren’t even there together, just happened to each be next to the river that day), and glad Bea and Harriet got to meet them too. I am amazed every day by the young people in my classrooms and in the world.

And, I have never been sorry I took a walk to the river.

Also, Frog Troublers—I have a frog-related (and Moms for Liberty-related) guest essay in the New York Times today! This is my first New York Times publication, and I hope you’ll like it and share it.

I was inspired to write it by a group of moms I am part of (which you’ll read about in the essay) and by the September Surge happening with Public School Strong. A project of Down Home NC and H.E.A.L. Together NC, Public School Strong is planning a big showing at September school board meetings and in letters to our local newspapers. We have a lot to fight for: trans kids’ rights, teacher pay, school libraries, teachers’ rights to teach real history (and kids’ rights to learn it)… see you at the next school board meeting?

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