Waiting for the Elvers — by Caitlin Shetterly

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Welles
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Waiting for the Elvers — by Caitlin Shetterly

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Last spring, when COVID descended and my sons’ school shut down, we went to the river. The river I am speaking of is one of Maine’s tidal rivers. Twice a day, the brackish water flows behind our house through hemlocks, oaks, and spartina grass to meet a freshwater stream that cascades over slippery rocks bordered by black alders.

At first it was just instinctive: we needed to get outside before doing any math or spelling. Our boys needed to start their days listening to the burble of water and smelling the dank must of mud.

I’m not sure who first saw the wriggly, almost see-through, three-inch bodies of the elvers, or baby eels. But I think it was my energetic five-year-old because I remember his face. When he told me, he had run all the way back to our house through the woods and up our steep bank. His eyes were shining and he was breathless from exertion and excitement. His words tumbled one over the other, and his hands played out the drama of what he had found.

What started then as a thrilling curiosity became, soon, a passion for our whole family.
Wait for it... This little story comes to a wonderful conclusion.

Waiting for the Elvers — by Caitlin Shetterly

https://orionmagazine.org/article/waiti ... he-elvers/


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Re: Waiting for the Elvers — by Caitlin Shetterly

Post by Sandy »

Thank you Welles,

This is a beautiful essay to take with me into the day. :sunny:

:loves
Sandy
“We measure and evaluate your Spiritual Progress on the Wall of Eternity." – Guardian of Destiny, Alverana.
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