ROGUE BEAVER DAMN
The Isolation Blues;
reflections during covid-19
The beaver have damned the river again by our place on the north branch. (This is not the first time.) It seems to make no difference that their overly ambitious plans are doomed to inevitable failure, they just can’t help themselves. Every year they do it again. While beaver in a pond or wetlands will use mud and stick to construct their damn, bank beaver along the edge of a river will use what they have available to complete the project. If you look closely in the above photo you will notice that these beaver have used rock, gravel and stick moving an impressive amount of material during their night shifts through the summer. They pick the same spot every year. They strategically anchor the damn on the large rock that you see in the top of the photo and then steadily work their way across the stream. This is the river view I have from the front porch of our sauna. (I feel exhausted just looking at the amount of effort they’ve put into the work site.) The river is annually at its lowest water level in August and early September and right now it’s barely ankle deep along this stretch of the stream. But all it takes is one good rain storm (one inch or more) and the north branch will raise two feet overnight. These same beaver have rebuilt enough times to know how this works and they just don’t seem to give a damn if their backwoods engineering project makes it to the next year or not. I’m not quite sure what to make of their unrealistic and relentless determination. Why keep building again and again all the while knowing that the building will never end?
Those working for long term societal change and peace/justice issues are familiar with this ongoing and recurring challenge. Just when it seems like progress is being made and “the arc is bending towards justice” there is a set-back you didn’t see coming. The larger cause requires a “don’t quit” attitude especially when the poll numbers or legislation offer discouraging results. Working to alleviate the suffering of someone else is the reason as well as the reward of such strenuous effort. When social activists are asked about their motivation they often say, “I just had to do it.” Of course, there is never an end to such work but that’s not the point. It is the work itself that validates the time and effort invested. It was American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead that famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; it’s the only thing that ever has.” Politicians, corporations and pundits are usually lagging behind on such change-issues; it’s the visionary individuals and small self-organizing groups that end up leading the way. (The politicians eventually catch up when enough moral pressure and polling numbers are applied.) It is dogged persistence and undeterred focus that holds up in the long run. I think the beavers would go along with that philosophy – they have outlasted and befuddled some of the best civil engineers, perplexed landowners and stymied the Maine State DOT for years now.
Keep doing what you need to do.
In the woods,
Dave
September 24, 2020