Where I grew up in Saginaw, the Tittabawessee River, depending on its twists and turns winding through various counties in the lower peninsula of Michigan, was and remains a beautiful part of nature.  Hidden by trees along its riverbank, the river was south of my childhood home, well within walking distance for kids. I seldom went to the river because my mother wasn’t keen on the idea. Getting there meant treading through a swamp along Mr. Rader’s farmland….or walking through tall overgrown grasses at an abandoned airfield to the west of the swamp…or along the edge of Mr. Rader’s wheat field which he frowned upon greatly. So, I think I only went out to the river in “our neck of the woods a couple of times”. Now, my brothers and neighborhood boys? That’s a different story. Boys being boys, going to the river to “spear” or “catch” fish with poles was a summertime sport. Their goal was to see how many carp fish they could snag ….careful to handle and throw back into the murky waters created in the 60s by toxic chemicals spilled into it by Dow Chemical until clean up efforts began with the corporation joining those efforts….but’s that’s the not the focal point of today’s blog.  I want to talk more about those carp.

Not a particularly pretty looking fish, part of my childhood experiences regarding this fish was being told “they aren’t fit to eat”….”they are bottom feeders”….”they are nasty”…looking at a few sites online reveals contrary facts challenging my childhood beliefs….that some countries actually eat carp as part of their cuisine…that the meat of the fish is moist and flaky. Which leads me to a childhood memory I’ve not forgotten.

Dad and I were sitting on our front porch on a hot sticky summer evening after dinner. The sun hadn’t set yet and as we were enjoying each other’s company a couple of neighborhood boys strolled by, each with a string of those carp over their shoulders. As I watched them…said our hellos…I suddenly heard all the familiar phrases in my head that dad and mom would say about the river and its carp…dirty, nasty, not fit to eat….I looked up at my dad and asked, “do you think they’re going to actually eat those!?”  In his gentle manner that taught me so many life lessons, he merely replied, “honey, those fish may be their only meal today.” Hmm. Seems maybe dad knew more about their families’ economic situation than a seven year old…no judgment. No admonishment telling them to throw the fish in the trash. 

I don’t know why this childhood memory surfaced today. Maybe it’s because now, at age 68, living in the 2000s, news headlines are reporting global food shortages. Our local resources that help families with food and pantry items are amping up their voices to fill needs beyond their shelves’ inventory….grocery prices have climbed significantly since late spring…farm production costs have skyrocketed…more folks are planting gardens and looking for ways to provide daily meals, ourselves included although we are not heavily burdened by the current economy. We are blessed….

Back to the carp….as much as I don’t care to trust that eating a carp is good cuisine…it’s great to write that since my childhood, efforts to clean the river have paid off. Years of hard work have reduced the level of toxins…the river actually freezes in some areas…and ice fishing competitions are now part of winter activities in my home city. Other fish are filling the waters….revitalization is happening….the carp still remain for “catch and release” or maybe a meal? I’m not in any big hurry to find out, but I’m grateful the river has been reclaimed and is being restored to original beauty…something everything in Creation deserves.

This photo doesn’t say which part of the river we are looking at; you can see the banks are lined with snow and patches of ice float on the water under the sun. In the 90s, my office was located in a building that sat on the riverbank. In the spring, we actually went outside to watch and listen as the ice broke in late spring, pushing huge ice chunks along the water’s flow. The power of the river and the sounds it made was fascinating, a most welcome sight to behold. And, once in awhile, the forces of the ice actually pushed a carp or two up above the water for a moment of flight in mid air, landing back in the chilly water to continue the ride out to the Saginaw Bay.