The Haw River Festival is Saturday, May 3, from 4 to 8 P.M. Though it is located in Saxapahaw, which is outside of Chapel Hill/Carrboro, many listeners and readers of Chapelboro.com are in the Haw River watershed, which covers eight counties. The watershed includes not only the river but also every creek, stream, and puddle. We have a vested interest.
Emily Sutton is the Haw Riverkeeper, and she’s wonderful at her job of education and advocacy. Not to mention she cleans out the river’s “trash traps” with the best of them! Yet, I’m reminded of the concept of a priesthood of all believers, meaning that, while clergy have specific roles, every person has a ministry and a calling. Without threatening Emily’s job, everyone who finds beauty and meaning at the Haw is a riverkeeper.
If you venture to the festival this Saturday, you’ll find folks of a kaleidoscope of colors, persuasions, and backgrounds. You’ll find children and children at heart, people who are never more carefree than when they talk about why they love the Haw River.
Some attribute their love to leisure activities, like fishing or paddling. Others prefer to swim, sunbathe, or skip stones. Still others love to hike along the flowing water or hop across the rocks.
I think there’s something intangible, too—something that evokes beauty or delight from everyday life, gracing the ordinary into the extraordinary. I cannot define such magic, but I can point to it, like the heron gliding over the water or the song of the Carolina wren from the banks. The singing sound of rushing water takes me back to my childhood and (to quote James Earl Jones in the movie “Field of Dreams”) memories so thick you have to brush them from your face.
Maybe our reasons for loving the Haw are as varied as the ways we show it. Love in action might look like participating in a river cleanup, attending a town council meeting, or writing letters to our elected officials to combat pollution.
On Saturday, May 3, love for the Haw will look like a festival of fun complete with bands, booths, and vendors. Love will link up with fellow advocates. Love will look in the face of a stranger and find a friend. Love will inspire us to keep the Haw clean and safe for future generations.
Love, like the river itself, will run deep.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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Little Big Moments: Love the Haw River Chapelboro.com.
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