In the performance and environmental statement, “Swimmin’ the River”, I swam 2,367.4 miles from the source of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. My support crews and I became Ambassadors for Clean Water as we reclaimed the waterways for life affirming pursuits.
Cause all things connect to all things
Nothing stands by itself all alone
Our actions and reactions circulate in rings
With consequences often unknown*
Since that time, I have done water cleansing rituals mixing waters from day 1 of The Swim with waters around the globe. “Greetings from the Mississippi to the World’s Waterways” included the most distant one, “Greetings from the Mississippi to the Arctic Sea”.
I slipped over the fence and performed Greetings to the East River late night September 25 near the India Street Ferry Landing, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. On September 26 we continued with a special case.
Mespaethes - Great Brook with Tide - Newtown Creek is an Environmental Protection Agency Super Fund Site in recovery. Warnings are still abundant. No swimming, recommended only for experienced boaters and do not touch the water. If you do, wash as soon as possible. Sculptor George Trakas designed a nature walk there and several native species have returned. Earlier, we had witnessed small fish, a crab and a gull bathing in the water.
I bring “Greetings from Misi-ziibi to Mespaethes” because waters unite to flow with waters because all are subject to the same laws.
*From “I Think on These Things” free download available at www.billyx.net Music
Submitted from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY. Photo Credit: Margarita Baumann
