Phish

Andreas interviewed me about my experiences in the Danube and what the river was like. Unfortunately, I cannot answer questions about what is beyond the riverfront because unless there are hills, I do not see anything but the backdrop. It is like a Hollywood movie set...or like driving through the country around Gadsden, Alabama. There is logging there, awful clearcutting, but the company follows the laws and leaves a fifteen foot road frontage of trees. People think it is kind of them but it is not! If they cut trees down right up to the road, people would see what a mess they are making of once beautiful land. The shame and ugliness would surely anger them. But, they do not see, and they do not leave their cars to look beyond the trees to the damage that is being done to the streams, creeks, rivers, wildlife habitats and a multitude of other environmental catastrophies that result from irresponsible land use. Nature is an abstraction to them...like an algebraic equation that cannot be shown with blocks or an abacus.
When I swim the river, I am like the person in the car in that I cannot see beyond the river front, but I am WAY DIFFERENT. When I swim, the river is no abstraction. It is concrete, a literal example of what is going on beyond the river front. In the water, I hear the pebbles tinkling along the bottom of the river, traveling fast or slow depending on the current and depth of the water. In dead, dammed water, they do not move. Usually this tinkling is the first thing that informs me the water is getting faster and rapids may be approaching. When we near a dam, I often know before the people in the kajaks because I can hear the whirring of the generators, a sound imperceivable to people above the water. In the water, I can hear a boat approaching and make a determination of its size and speed. Barges have a slow, deep pitch. In the water I can make determinations about the water through its smell. If companies and corporations are dumping, I know it first. If animal farms are not being responsible and allowing feces and urine to go into the river I can smell it in the water even when people in the boats cannot. The taste? Well, that can be scary. Sometimes it tastes sweet, that is not good. It suggests dangerous chemicals. Sometimes stuff sticks to my teeth and makes them feel fuzzy. It is not a healthy fuzz. Sometimes my gums and mouth hurt from the water...chemicals. I can judge the turbidity of the water every stroke I take. How soon can I see my hand as I complete my swim pull? The particles in the water are visible to me through my goggles, and in my swimsuit at the end of the day. I know when there is good flow from the temperature changes and when there is a nuclear or coal power plant from the HOT (usually too hot) water. I know the river through all of my senses: hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling and smelling.

If a river and it's watershed are not treated responsibly, the water does not lie. The general public may not notice it because those that choose money or power over responsible social-environmental stewardship do their best to keep it hidden.
That is unfortunate because our waterways are our circulatory system. They bond us together as a people, as a world. If they are not taken care of from the smallest stream, it eventually effects us all. This, the river tells me, and the river does not lie.

Too quick of an update.....

The Isel river was beautifully cold and painful but the start took place with a castle in the background. One of these days I shall come to Europe to see the sights outside of the water. I did not view the castle up closely but did managed to get a real close look or rather FEEL of a boulder conveniently placed in my path. I really thought it was at least cracked but thank goodness after a few days in ice water, all is well. There is not even a bruise large enough to call a sourvenir. Somewhere about the time my hip was smashed, my foot received some damage that went unnoticed until I finished for the day, and it cooled off. It had an egg sized lump that was also relieved by a few days in the ice water. Ice water is great stuff...effective for preventing and significantly reducing inflammation.

OK enough whinning about me...The LIFE Projekt was phenonmenal. To see a rebirthing of a section of the river was moving. I had to wait up river a few hundred meters until the new arm was opened. Kelsey and I enjoyed fresh apple struedel with Marion until he received the call to swim. While waiting a heard a HUGE BOOM and wondered if Bush had misfired, but it was just the dynamite from the Projekt. The call came and I swam into the channel...the first! It was a little scary but heartwarming too. Kelsey was yelling for me to wait because a bulldozer was still moving rocks but the current said...GO,GO, GO. We were met by concerned politicians, townspeople and school children. After an hour, it was time for us to leave for our next stop. Thomas and Richard, director and photographer of a documentary on the projekt followed us for a while and later met us for a beer and dinner. Thomas did a documentary on windsurfing the Berring Strait so we had a lot to talk about in addition to the LIFE Projekt and Drava-Mura-Danube mission.

A fireman, Wolfgang, accompanied me from the Life Projekt to our stopping point. It was fun. The water was wild until we came within 6km of the dam and then it stopped. It was like we entered the Twilight Zone. We went under a bridge and on the other side the water did not move without a strong arm pull. At the end, we had champaign and flowers from supporters.

Judith from Kajak AT kajaked with us one day. It was hard work for her in a whitewater kajak on dead water. The rain was not too fun for her or Kelsey but ice cream at the AnnaBruke Gasthof afterwards made it all OK. We totally enjoyed her company and sense of humor. Her English is great. I asked if she was as funny in German and she said, "Probably not". I find that hard to believe. Judith is some kajaker. If anzone knows some tough places in the US for her to tackle, let me know.

Yesterdaz we went through HELL at a DAM. It took over two hours to get around the blasted thing. Readers Digest condensed version...out on the right...no the left...up a path...onto a road, up a hill, through a gate, through a hedge, over a gate, over a fence, down a steep hill, through a gravel lot, through a large meadow, back through the gravel lot, down a road, along a retaining wall with bushes and snakes, backwards on the retaining wall, up a steep road, down a gravel path, across a gravel lot, down a gravel hill, through the woods with stinging nettles and ANTS down an embankment slipping and slidding on rocks...down a rock wall into the water...then back to the gravel lot to help the guy that wanted to go with us with his raft. Remember, Kelsez was hauling the kajak, well over a hundred pounds by herself most of the way. We also had to help this guy with his stuff. It was nice to have his company but he can go home and rest his muscles...we have to do it again the next day and the next and the next...We had ice cream for dinner.

Today I met Borut after not seeing him for a couple of years. It was great to see him and exchange stories of the Danube and the Amazon swim. He is so personable, funny and supportive. We ate dinner with Katja and her family. Her cousin, Primesh is meeting us tomorrow and is going to swim with me...he says he must wear fins. Borut is kajaking with Kelsey. Before the swim, I am speaking to a group of school children. We will finsih in Maribor tomorrow. A power company is accompanying us for a few kilometers tomorrow too. So much is going on...I wish we had room for a laptop so I knew there would be access to the internet.

I have so much I want to say about my experiences with the river and its waters. My perpective is unique and never as people suspect. My mind has ruminated on this subject for days and when it is put into words, I want them to effectively express my thoughts.

Keep in touch, mimi

And We're Off...

Ah, there is so much to say, but we only have five minutes.
We had a marvelous time on the Mura. So many people came out to support us and share in the belief our rivers should flow freely. The Mura is so beautiful. If more people came to the river to sit, watch and listen the world would be a better place. People would be calmer and our rivers would be wilder! The people along the Mura in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia are dedicated to the health of the Mura and FUN! When Kelsey and her group flipped the canoe, there was laughter, but we did not let them see! At least not until Kelsey was warm and dry. Actually she was more worried that she could not get back into the USA with a wet and messy passport to reunite with her boyfiend. Ah, young love!

Tomorrow we start the Drava. It looks REALLY, REALLY cold, but I am not going to touch it until I jump in. What difference will it make how cold it is? Kelsey is concerned for the whitewater and boulders a few hundred kilometers downstream from our starting point. She is afraid her touring kajak will not make it. She wants to make sure the passports are going to be kept dry. I told her to call her boyfriend and make sure he will still love her with a head injury. She told me to be quiet because I am at that age where it is easy to break a hip. Teasing and laughter can be good stress reducers. It will be fine!

We found out a couple of days ago that at the end of the Drava, it is not the raw sewage that is dangerous but the mines. When Arno said that, I assumed he meant chemicals as a result of mining. He did not. He meant MINES...boom, boom. After the Homeland War with Serbia and Croatia, as in ALL wars, there were many undenotated bombs. We need to be careful we do not detonate any of them as we swim through that section of the Drava. There are usually warning signs, but Arno said he was trapsing around the riverbank and came upon a stick without a sign. It was stressful finding his way out of the area. I get a picture of him on tippy toes easing his way back to his car. Well, I was told when swimming the Tennessee River not to stand up in Moccasin Bend due to poisoning from WWII. As then, I do not plan to stand up while swimming through the mines.

I have been too long, thanks for all of your support. Please remember that the majority of ALL people are kind, compassionate and supportive of a clean, healthy environment. Live on....mimi