Yuba River

The South Yuba River swelled to 17,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) yesterday after the county was hit with a hard winter storm (click here for photos of the excess water at the Outside Inn).  Crowds gathered at several of the river crossings to witness Mother Nature’s power.  Shana Maziarz, Creative Director of SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival described the experience.   “Yesterday I joined a crowd of people converging on the old Highway 49 bridge to gawk at the swollen Yuba River.  I felt so grateful to live in a community where so many of us felt that the most interesting and exciting thing to do on a Sunday morning was to stand in the rain to observe the nexus of precipitation and gravity.  As we all stood marveling at the billions of drops going down down down into the river and eventually into the sea, I thought about how rare it is that we come together like this to just stop and collectively take in the beauty and ferocity of the natural world.  There was a palpable shared giddiness among the crowd, and I’ve been contemplating why.  I think it’s, at least in part, because we are reminded that we are a part of something so much bigger than us.  I think this is exactly why I’m so excited for Terry Tempest William’s talk this coming Thursday.  In her work, she imagines a world where we behave as if the earth mattered.  She imagines a world where we take time to gawk at the natural world, where corporations consider the impact of their actions on the natural world, where we acknowledge that we humans are a part of this place; that we are effected by and effect it.  I’m looking forward to being in a room full of other members of my community taking in Terry’s sage words.  Her writing is gleaned from years of simply paying attention, and years of personally experiencing the negative effects of short-sighted decision on the land and in our own bodies.”  Local author Kim Culbertson described the power of authors, especially environmental authors, “of observation, they notice changes, the dramatic and the not so powerful and make us pay attention.”  Terry Tempest Williams recently said in an interview, “Winter has arrived and so has the season of stories.”  To hear her tell some of her stories please join the SYRCL Wild & Scenic Arts & Lectures talk at the Don Baggett Theatre this Thursday, December 6th at 7pm.

© 2012 InnSide Nevada City, © Photos by Dieter King and Kial James, used with permission