Water’s Ebb and Flow

John O’Boyle

Water. It nurtures me, consoles me, inspires me. Whether searching for gems of sea glass on a beach or hanging far off the beam of a flying sailboat, whether feeling the sharp tug of a fishing pole at the Menasha dam or sitting on a rough board dock watching the sky’s first light, I feel embraced by all the gifts it offers,

So, it is wondrously fitting that in some small part I am able to give back—protecting shorelines and wetlands of the Green Bay estuary, the largest freshwater estuary in the world. Working at the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, every day I get to help to expand the lands that affect the crystal purity of the water, right where we live.

The Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, having preserved over 7,100 acres and 48 miles of shoreline. Our mission is to preserve lands that protect our waters, landscapes, and natural habitats. We work to improve the quality of air by protecting forests, trees and plants, and to mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon. Our 1,600 acres of wetlands are as biodiverse, or more, than rain forests, and they act as buffers from deluge and flooding.

We are helping protect the lands around Wequiock Creek, the sole water source of Point Au Sable, the only major wetland on the eastern shore of Green Bay. We have extended the preserved lands inland with the vision of a corridor along the creek, all the way to Wequiock Falls.

We have recently protected 165 acres where the Crystal and Waupaca Rivers converge. It is prime kayaking and canoeing water that includes more than 70 acres of wetlands and floodplains.

And now we are in the process of preserving 348 acres adjacent to Barkhausen Waterfowl Refuge, including a mile and a half of Green Bay waterfront, a prime pike spawning area.

Water has also played another role for me. It is my muse, my inspiration. When writing, I often go to water—beach walk on, bike ride by—to let my spirit hear the clarity missing when I am away from it. And just writing about it inspires poetry.

Gifts

Look at sun sparkles, glimmering like diamonds across water’s surface. 
Watch the peach splashed sunset shooting its reflection to the shore. 
See the perfection of billowing trees reflecting on the still pond.

Hear the crashing cadence of waves rhythmically creating inner silence. 
Catch the shrill seagull screams, celebrating the fishing boat’s arrival. 
Listen to the lonely moan of the foghorn in the thick night.

Sample the sea salt mouthful, emerging from a joyous boat jump. 
Slurp the first oyster, tasting like the ocean. 
Savor the lemon squeeze on fresh caught fish, grilled over an open fire.

Sense the briny tang alerting that water is near, even before it is seen. 
Sniff the wood smoke smell of the beach campfire, crackling sparks into the night sky. 
Inhale the swamp smell of a healthy wetland.

Feel the icy shock of that first spring dive, stealing your breath. 
Caress fragrant sunscreen onto a child’s back in earshot of wave laps.
Crunch the sand grit between your toes on wet sand by sea foam.

Drink freely of the gifts water offers.

John O’Boyle has had a variety of careers including running an inner-city not-for-profit, house manager at a regional theater, commercial real estate development in the medical world, a Broadway producer (two Tony’s), composer/writer of Easter Mysteries, a Kosher Musical, and currently the Development Director of Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust.