A month and three days have passed since I last sat at my “Giving Tree.” It’s strange to think how much has happened and how much has changed in that span of time. However, at the same time, I feel as though so much has stayed the same. I can see this simultaneity of constancy and change not just in my life, but in my reflection spot as well. From my spot, I see can see the same stretch of buildings, the same tree hanging over the lake, and the same expanse of water. However, there are different cars in the parking lots of these buildings, the hanging tree has a few less branches, and I know the water is not the same water that it was before. While it is still quite chilly outside, there is no snow melting beneath my feet and no ice hugging the edges of the lake. It is also more overcast today, so the reflection of sky off the lake is not as strong as before.
My thoughts wander to a discussion we had in my Literary Spain class: in a play we are reading, there are recurring references to water. The town that the characters live in is referred to as a “pueblo sin río, pueblo de pozos” – a town without a river, a town with wells. Our professor asked us what we thought this meant and we began to discuss the differences between a river and a well; rivers have fluidity, they never consist of the exact same water, while wells are stagnant. Of course, whenever there is a discussion involving rivers, my thoughts immediately go to the James. I was captivated by the fact that, if you focus on one spot of the James, while it may look essentially the same one day, it will be filled with completely different water the next. While reading for my In River Time presentation, I learned about the ways that people tried to harness the strength of the river, mostly through power for mills and water for their homes. During these times, the flow and quality of the river were drastically different from what they are today. On Wednesday, Ralph White talked about how much the river has changed since then; the James used to be the fifth dirtiest river and now Richmond is one of the most famous river cities. It amazes me how the river not only changes on a decade by decade basis, but also on a day by day basis. On a whim last night, Abby and I headed down to Pony Pasture. It may have been my view from the rocks I happened to choose to go out on, but the water level of the river seemed to be higher than the last time I was there. Even though the river looked essentially the same, I knew there was something different. Understanding the fluidity of the river helps us to further our connection to it; the river, similar to my reflection spot, can look the same but constantly changes. And so do we.