Charles River Conservancy The Charles River Conservancy presents Volume III River Stories River Stories River Stories Volume III Volume © Frank Costantino A treasury of poems, stories, artwork, maps, and quotations about the river and its parklands by those who cherish them Table of Contents Dear Parklands Friend Renata von Tscharner.................................................................................................................................................1 A Charles River Journal David Gessner..........................................................................................................................................................2 The Day They Took Our Beach Away from Us Michael Dukakis.......................................................................................................................................................4 Just Once Anne Sexton............................................................................................................................................................5 An Epic Paddle Tom Ashbrook..........................................................................................................................................................6 A Tiny Arm of a Vast Sea Stephen Greenblatt....................................................................................................................................................8 Down by the River David Ferry.............................................................................................................................................................10 Excerpt from Thoreau’s Journal Henry David Thoreau.................................................................................................................................................11 Designing Buildings for the Charles River Edge William Rawn..........................................................................................................................................................12 February on the River Florence Ladd..........................................................................................................................................................16 Mapping the River’s History Nancy S. Seasholes....................................................................................................................................................18 Swimming Home Liza Ketchum..........................................................................................................................................................20 The Bridge Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.......................................................................................................................................22 A Much More Better Charles Peter Howe..............................................................................................................................................................24 By a River Possessed Megan Marshall........................................................................................................................................................27 My Computerized Charles River Ferdi Hellweger.........................................................................................................................................................28 Head of the Charles Florence Ladd...........................................................................................................................................................30 Captions, Credits, & More ............................................................................................................................................................................32 “The Charles River parklands are a vital resource—we need that open space along the water—and yet, in Cambridge, they are in rough shape. I applaud the Charles River Conservancy’s advocacy for the parks and the public/private partnerships that allow for improvements.” - Cathie Zusy, Chair, Magazine Beach Committee, Cambridge Neighborhood Association Dear Parklands Friend, We are delighted to bring to you this third volume of include several Community Swims in 2015 and is River Stories, in which a wide array of writers share their building support—and soliciting designs—for a more own very personal attachments to the Charles River. permanent swimming venue. Some are scholars and scientists who study the river, others neighbors who enjoy its recreational opportu- After five tireless years of advocacy, the Conservancy in nities. We include essays by several journalists whose 2014 gained the support of the Department of Trans- writing helped bring about improvements to the river, portation for bicycle/pedestrian underpasses at the and a former governor of the commonwealth who three bridge intersections that have long impeded oversaw early efforts to implement the massive cleanup fluidity and access along the Dr. Paul Dudley White that has made the Charles so much more inviting. Path on the Boston side. Further on the horizon are We are proud to include poets and prose writers both plans for an Allston Esplanade, widening the path into present and past, whose vision of the river helps shape a new riverfront park to serve the 21st-century urban our own, as well as an essay by an architect whose work district that is starting to take shape along the river has added to the beauty of the riverscape. We are also in Allston. With all these longer-term projects, the including a scattering of short quotes from civic Conservancy is not only continuing the legacy of Eliot, leaders and parklands users, whose particular feelings Storrow, Shurcliff, and other visionary creators of the for the river must stand for the many thousands more Charles River parklands, but adding substantially to we might have elicited. In short, we offer this volume their legacy as we pass it on to future generations. as a sort of tasting menu of the river’s innumerable This has been and continues to be the work of many delicacies and delights. thousands of dedicated people, staff, board members, It is now fifteen years since I founded the Charles advisors, volunteers, and donors, and I feel privileged River Conservancy, inspired by Charles Eliot’s vision to have a place in such a distinguished band. Whether of the parklands as our “democratic common ground.” you are among our long-term supporters or are new to Today, public funds are insufficient to maintain and our work, we hope these stories will inspire you to join enhance this legacy, and it has been gratifying to watch us in the tasks that lie ahead. There are so many more the ranks of our volunteers and supporters swell to opportunities to improve the parklands for the benefit more than 30,000. The thousands of hours they have of us all. devoted to the river—we estimate the value of their labor at over $1,000,000—have enabled us to paint Sincerely, benches and prune trees, clear pathways and improve access, combat invasive species, and remove literally tons of trash from the parklands. Together, we have Renata von Tscharner planted the many thousands of daffodils that adorn Founder and President, Charles River Conservancy broad swathes of the parklands each spring. Summer Sundays along the river are enlivened by our Sunday Games. And, of course, our small but dedicated staff can coordinate these efforts only with the financial support of our donors, large and small. Over time, the Conservancy has taken on larger advocacy and capital projects as well. As I write, construction is underway for the Lynch Family Skate- park in North Point Park, a 40,000-square-foot, $5,000,000 project the Conservancy has pursued for over ten years in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and a host of donors. Our ongoing advocacy for a swimmable Charles will — Renée La Rivière 1 by David Gessner A Charles River Journal place for roosting, in this center of human community, backs, black bills, and a distinctive hunch. They hopped When most people think of the Charles, if they think of it whitenesses. The birches along the water gleamed, and and they were constantly disturbed, flying back and forth, nervously from branch to branch. Then, before they flew off, at all, they imagine a tame and preppy river, a river that a gull with black-tipped wings was transformed into a complaining with loud "sproaks,” trying to find some they dipped down a little, as if they needed to push off. privacy. On the days that I kayaked the river, I could get got into the Ivy League, a river of boathouses and scullers. stranger, more exotic bird: a white dove of some sort. “A river touching the back of a town is like a wing,” Thoreau But when Captain John Smith spied the Charles from I walked to the open water near the grate where I knew close enough to see their burning eyes. One day, I watched dozens of them roosting around the small camp of a home- tells us. “It may be unused as yet, but ready to waft it over the Boston Harbor in 1611, he wasn’t thinking about scullers I would find the great blue heron, and, sure enough, world. With its rapid current it is a slightly fluttering wing. or tea parties or finals clubs. Like any explorer worth his he was there, hulking, long neck pulled in, solitary. I less man behind a concrete barrier. I kept perfectly still, drifting in the slow current, and they didn’t fly off, their River towns are winged towns.” Full of winged inhabitants, salt, his dreams were of discovery, and in the river