{"id":10818,"date":"2019-09-02T21:27:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T03:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10818"},"modified":"2019-09-13T20:25:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T02:25:21","slug":"a-proposal-for-honoring-the-spirit-of-the-poudre-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10818","title":{"rendered":"A Proposal for Honoring the Spirit of the Poudre River"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 625px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-10818-1\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/wind-over-tide.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/wind-over-tide.mp4\">https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/wind-over-tide.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><em>I had to follow <a href=\"http:\/\/windovertideband.com\/\">Wind over Tide<\/a>, &#8220;a folk band specializing in traditional music of the British Isles and Americas with special emphasis on tales of seafaring and adventure,&#8221; which was kind of a challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The evening before I was scheduled to give the keynote address at the Fort Collins (Colorado) Pagan Pride Day on August 24th,<\/strong> M. and I were driving around the city, buying groceries for the camping trip we planned to take after the event, and sight-seeing a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>The university town where I spent some of my teenage years has tripled in size. Yes, it&#8217;s weird seeing what was ag land turned into &#8220;technology parks&#8221; alternating with chain hotels and chain restaurants. And the drive up from the Denverplex was hellish.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10819\" style=\"width: 269px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/floating-biologist.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10819\" class=\"wp-image-10819 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/floating-biologist.jpg?resize=259%2C194&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/floating-biologist.jpg?w=259&amp;ssl=1 259w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/floating-biologist.jpg?resize=150%2C112&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10819\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Biologists studying the Poudre River above Fort Collins (Colorado Parks &amp; Wildlife).<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But one thing has changed for the better \u2014 the community&#8217;s relationship with the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cache_la_Poudre_River\">Cache la Poudre River<\/a>, which leaves the mountains nearby and flows down through the city before continuing eastward across the High Plains.<\/p>\n<p>My outdoorsy friends and I went rock-climbing at <a href=\"https:\/\/horsetoothd.com\/blog\/complete-guide-to-horsetooth-reservoir-in-fort-collins-co\/\">Horsetooth Reservoir,<\/a> backpacking in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coloradowilderness.com\/wildpages\/rawah.html\">Rawah Wilderness,<\/a> etc., and hunting wherever, but we ignored the Poudre River once it came out of the canyon and was no longer considered fishable. I don&#8217;t recall anyone canoeing it or anything like that. It was just a conduit to farms and towns further east.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10822\" style=\"width: 688px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10822\" class=\"wp-image-10822 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?resize=625%2C351&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?resize=678%2C381&amp;ssl=1 678w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?resize=150%2C84&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Poudre-CFS-sign-under-bridge-678x381.jpg?resize=500%2C281&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Fort Collins, a sign under a bridge shows the river&#8217;s flow in cubic feet per second.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Now the river has been dignified as the<a href=\"https:\/\/poudreheritage.org\/\"> Cache la Poudre National Heritage Area<\/a>.<\/strong> In the city, the change is huge. Suddenly it is a place that people want to visit for hiking, biking, kayaking, tubing, fishing, and so on. And at its nearest, it flows along edge of the downtown area, only three or four city blocks from the park where the festivities take place.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10824\" style=\"width: 311px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/college-ave-bridge.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10824\" class=\"wp-image-10824\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/college-ave-bridge.jpg?resize=301%2C203&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"301\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/college-ave-bridge.jpg?resize=150%2C100&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/college-ave-bridge.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=301%2C203&amp;ssl=1 602w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/college-ave-bridge.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=301%2C203&amp;ssl=1 903w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10824\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Where College Avenue, the main north-south commercial street, crosses the Poudre River.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So as I was standing there talking about nature religion and urban animism and such things, it hit me: the Pagan Pride Day ought to end with a procession to &#8220;honor the river.&#8221; (&#8220;Honoring&#8221; sounds suitably bland and inclusive, don&#8217;t you think?) Make up some wreaths of native flowers and grasses and toss them in with appropriate invocations. And of course there would be music.<\/p>\n<p>I put that suggestion into my talk. Whether anyone takes me up on it remains to be seen. Meanwhile, I should be doing something like that for Hardscrabble Creek. Devotion begins at home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Edited to add:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/witchesandpagans.com\/pagan-culture-blogs\/paganistan\/we-gather-in-the-midst-of-gods-an-address-on-the-occasion-of-the-ninth-annual-offering-to-the-falls.html\">See what they are doing at Twin Cities Pagan Pride!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8654\">What is Wrong with Large-Scale Ritual?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8678\">Large-Group Ritual: Magic, Worship, or \u201cJust What We Do\u201d?<\/a> (with procession and midsummer wreath-tossing)<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9057\">Can You Put Your Paganism in the Street?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had to follow Wind over Tide, &#8220;a folk band specializing in traditional music of the British Isles and Americas with special emphasis on tales of seafaring and adventure,&#8221; which was kind of a challenge. The evening before I was scheduled to give the keynote address at the Fort Collins (Colorado) Pagan Pride Day on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,23,127,34,5,298,187],"class_list":["post-10818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-animism","tag-colorado","tag-festivals","tag-music","tag-paganism","tag-ritual","tag-water"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-2Ou","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":934,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=934","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":0},"title":"The Wind that Shakes the Pine Trees","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a sunny day with a brisk wind blowing. Pine needles are in the air. M. and I both slept in a little last night after returning at midnight from one of the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival concerts.We went to one last year too, to hear Kim Robertson's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Celts\"","block_context":{"text":"Celts","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=celts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1126,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1126","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":1},"title":"Blogging in Fire Season","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My days this week were split between book-editing, another writing project, and fire-fighting -- or worrying about fires.In late January I joined the little rural volunteer fire department, which seems in a way to embody what the Founders meant by \"militia\" back in the 18th century.M. and I also signed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1100,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1100","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":2},"title":"Yule and its Songs","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice occurs at 12:04 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on December 21. That's 5:04 a.m. here in Colorado, perfect for the people drumming up the Sun at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. (I won't be there--too far away.) Remember to visit Archaeoastronomy.com for all your calendrical ritual-timing needs.You can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"music\"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":460,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=460","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":3},"title":"Gleaming white stoneA part of\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Gleaming white stoneA part of Colorado that I had never seen before (nor had M.) was the Crystal River valley up from Carbondale through Redstone and Marble.What you see on the right is not a fragment of the temple of Zeus from some mountainous part of Greece, nor a fragment\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1377,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1377","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":4},"title":"Apollo, God of Coffeehouses","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Back when Enchant\u00e9 was a zine rather than a blog, Brightshadow did a series of articles on \u201cgods of the city.\u201d These were representations of the Old Gods in statuary, architecture, etc., primarily in New York City, where he lives. New York has no monopoly on them, of course. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar Roast Coffee, 226 N. Main St., Pueblo, Colorado","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/solarroast-190x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1085,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1085","url_meta":{"origin":10818,"position":5},"title":"Gallimaufry in Traffic","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00b6 So M. and I are in traffic behind a Cadillac SRX with the vanity license plate \"S-N-M\" and a custom-painted \"Sanguine Addiction\" above the license-plate holder. That's a Colorado metal band, but the driver did not look like any of the musicians. Here is what we were arguing about:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10818"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10870,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10818\/revisions\/10870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}