Written by Sue Crowley, Executive Director
The old boardwalk creaks and sways with every step I take. Her protective yet worn and splintered railings undulate from the heaves of many seasons of winter and warmth, waters high and low. She winds her way to the narrow Neshotah river inlet. Boardwalk carried people over the mucky bound grasses, sedges and cattails for over 40 years now. She has some patches here and there as some pieces succumbed to the elements of time, sun, wind and rain.
Boardwalk proudly shoulders her visitors, bringing the birders closer to a Virginia Rail, a secretive Sora or the delightful Green Heron. She allows many a child or child-at-heart to lay upon her and scoop up a sampling of pond or marsh water. We humans are curious to see what interesting life resides in the wetland. Boardwalk provides the contemplative solo hiker, the loving old couple, or the frolicking high school friends a place to be and to play and to think and to observe. She too supports the play of otters, the perching of Red-winged Blackbirds and the trotting of a fox winding through the marsh thicket.
Boardwalk allows us dry-foot access to the sounds of the marsh more intimately. Who
does not love those tenacious little Marsh Wrens singing and gurgling away among the maze-like cattail thickets. Or in this fall season especially as the cattails dry and lose their lush more supple green, they brown and brittle up rattling together with autumn breezes. Even the leaves of the shrubby tag alders clatter with their sun-baked, thickening, and leather-like texture still a dark green but quickly approaching leaf abscission as the days shorten and temperatures slowly drop. Our beautiful old boardwalk graciously extends our nature immersion opportunities, and we are grateful to the people and resources that made it possible.
So, savor the old boardwalk this weekend as the time has come for her replacement. Her great character developed through the years and provided us with hours of enjoyment. Her replacement will be just as grand and yet it is sad to see the old boards taken down bit by bit. Just think of the many trees that she comes from and the many people who helped to put her in place. Thank you to all those beings who made her so. And now we shall watch over the next month as the old boards are brought back to high ground, and the new boards are assembled for the next generations’ opportunities to take in the wonder of a wetland.