May 22, 2021
It is spring here, and the alewives are running from the ocean to the inland ponds to spawn. They mass at the mouths of freshwater streams and leap their way upstream, from pool to pool, to reach the inland waters where they were hatched, where they will lay and fertilize their eggs to create the next generation.
This is a terrible photo, caught on my old iPhone today in the glare of the sun, but the alewives are just too amazing not to share it. Years ago, before I had seen the alewives and had only heard of them, I thought their "running" would be, you know, a fish leaping... and then another fish leaping, and I figured that would be, you know, cool.
Instead, the alewives are a churning mass of thousands and thousands of 10-inch fish, acting as one as they work their way upstream while seagulls and cormorants and osprey and eagles threaten them from above and below.
I find them absolutely mesmerizing.
My grades are in and I celebrated the end of this very long year by spending the day with alewives rather than politicians. I'll pick things up again tomorrow, but for tonight, aren't these fish incredible?
Dr R, here, in pictures and print , is proof of why I say you are fluent in the language of hope. The alewives are completely new to me, but now my heart mascot. They do not fester about whether others will join them. Or whether cormorants will decide to be nice. They do what must be done. With all they’ve got! That’s it.
You help us see and understand the world we live in, and keep swimming. Thank you every day. Thank you.
This is worth cheering! I’ve been w you all for weeks of required reading, but so disheartened. The alewives are running and my flowers are blooming and this too lifts my heart and hopes for essential goodness and well-being for all to overcome the desperate actions of lost souls bent on self-aggrandizing acts of destruction.
I will not give these thoughts more space. My heart is with the fish and the flowers. A new spring is here. To celebrate. To renew. Be well. Be strong and loving.