Scioto River Sweep

I have kept myself busy since the end of Orientation almost three weeks. Yeah, it has been that long and I miss the hustle before the actual classes already. This is why I joined the Student Homecoming Organization- to keep the momentum built from my responsibilities at Orientation going during the school year. With five whole credit classes that are not particularly my specialty, I have to work extra hard to understand the material and to do well in the classes. I want to finish on time so I am usually bouncing in between classes, eating, organizations that I am in, and sleeping. I have little down time but when I do have the time, I do other eclectic things.

Next Saturday, I went to the Scioto River to do a little down and dirty work. At 8:00 a.m., I showered and left my house for this huge service project in which I partook in. The commute to get to the Scioto River wasn't long- about ten minutes from campus- and I was excited to be stepping out of my natural element a bit. Before I went to the Scioto, I had to get a donut and a coffee, just to make sure that my nerves were not shot. Around 8:30 a.m., a couple of my fraternity brothers and I headed to the tent that had all of the people anxiously waiting for instructions. I saw the gear we were using such as gloves, bug spray, and tons of bags. I have never cleaned a river before but I knew beforehand that this was going to be an enervating experience.

Earlier in the week, I called the person in charge, Jenifer Day-Young, to reserve some canoes. I was kind of nervous because it has been a while since I canoed anywhere. Fortunately, I was told of the possibility that the Scioto may be very shallow. I accepted this fact and pursued to double check what I wanted to take with me in the canoe. I decided to take my camera even though I think my camera is now affected by the tumultuous trip down the river (I will have to see about that before this week's community service project at Blue Limestone). Anyway, I took only the most valuable items with me to capture some river exclusive images. This way, I would have memories of how environmentally sustainable the rivers of Ohio have become and what message I need to advocate around campus.

My fraternity brothers and I were driven to an even more remote part of town (practically to the middle of nowhere) and we were given a canoe, a life jacket (which I do not believe was necessary considering the depth of the river), and a couple of canoes. We were explained the length of the river and approximately how long it would take to canoe down the river. We were also told where were the critical points we needed to look out for such as bridges and two cones signifying the end of the journey on the river. We proceeded to enter the wrath of the Scioto River. Truthfully, the first part of the river was actually not bad; the river was not that shallow and most of the river was free from debris. When we passed the bridge in Radnor, an area obscure to me but was visibly seen on the map we received in the beginning of the day, that is when the shallow part of the river started to hit us. This section was also the part where we had collected the most debris. This middle section was very tedious but very rewarding as well in a sense. Some of the debris that we collected were tires, televisions, and a huge grill along with obvious items put into our bags (beer cans, beer bottles, rugs, etc.) Around the halfway point, we saw one of the people in charge in ridding the canoes of its debris and we happily handed over the debris to pursue the rest of our canoe ride down the Scioto. The sight of it was abstract but beautiful. Some of my pictures captures the exquisite nature of the Scioto- a close, in-your-face beauty only captured when you are in its path. I am pretty sure Geography majors (and my Geography professors) can agree with this statement.

The last part of the trip was excruciating and exhilarating simultaneously. I guess the fish in that area felt that we were intruding their territory so they proceeded to ram our canoe. One of the fish decided to jump in the canoe, landing in my crotch area. This was relatively uncomfortable for me since fish out of the water are known to flop around a lot. Calmly, I tossed the fish back into the water. That fish seemed to bring a bad omen to the rest of the trip. For a time, we seemed lost since we were the head team in the pack. The river was very walkable near the end so we got out and pushed for the majority of that time. We finally saw a woman with her dog nearing the end of our journey; for reinsurance for not being lost in the Scioto River, we asked where the Main street bridge was. 1200 feet was the reply and feeling tired and weary, we cruised to the bridge, which was there. I had a growing fear that the bridge would not be there and we would potentially be stuck in the Scioto River. I like the beauty of the Scioto but looking at anything for almost four hours can turn off that beauty since you are so weary. We finally found the two red cones on the left on the river and happily greeted the people waiting for us. We unloaded the boat and waiting to dry off a little bit. We left that obscure area around 12:30-12:45 (I don't remember exactly). Back at base camp, there was food awaiting us. Seeing the need to eat again, I grabbed as much food as I could and went back to OWU to shower.

This is my adventure for last week; I know that this was a good experience all around except for the shallow parts of the river. I felt that I was helping the community become environmentally sustainable and economically sound. I also got to do something I never imagined doing. Enjoy the pictures on top of the page, which are a combination of serious and silliness. The van ride to the obscure place was packed and yes, I was sitting on top of three guys the whole way through (4th picture). Images of the Scioto up close and pictures of me and my fraternity brothers. I actually should stop writing now because I have to prepare for four straight hours of hardcore classes and never-ending madness.

Being environmentally sustainable,

Hasani Wheat

Class of '10