St. Lawrence River impressions: NCPR is everywhere
I was paddling a stretch of water on the St. Lawrence River yesterday and had crept into a little cove to record the sound of an osprey crowing from a nest in a big white pine.
Some people were sitting on a deck up on the shore and a man asked me what I was doing. I explained that I’m a public radio reporter, gathering sound for a story. “Oh,” he said. “Will this be on Todd Moe’s show?”
Which made me feel very much at home. Then, last night, when I arrived at the lovely Wellesley Hotel and began settling into my room, I found framed on the wall a beautiful woodblock print and a poem by NCPR’s blog-meister Dale Hobson.
“Tonight the ice is flat and serene, smoothness endless as Siberia,” Dale wrote. “Water from half the continent filters unseen between the shoals and the islands.”
I kept thinking about that idea as I paddled early this morning on the shipping channel. Half a continent — the vast Great Lakes basin — all distilled into this one vein.
It’s also fun to be reminded what a remarkable landscape NCPR covers, from the Adirondacks and the Champlain Valley to this magnificent river.
I was listening (on-line) last week while sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan. The best early morning programming available.
K.
The wood engraving by Greg Lago and my poem “Ice” are in my just-released book “A Drop of Ink,” from FootHills Publishing in Kanona NY. I’ll be reading from the book and signing copies in Clayton 6/30 at 5 pm at Winged Bull Studio. Not saying you should do anything with this information. Just saying.
Dale Hobson, NCPR Online
Who would possibly dislike the above comment from Dale, and why? I didn’t think people so disposed hung out here.
I love the North Country and have had many wonderful experiences there especially on the river.
…and the print/poem are just one of many collaborations by two of my favorite artists. Dale, I see almost everyday here at NCPR headquarters. Greg Lago, I make sure to see at his Winged Bull Studios in downtown Clayton. Not saying you have to go there, too. Just saying…