ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602020047
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY JUSTIN ASKINS
RIVERWALKING: Reflections on Moving Water. By Kathleen Dean Moore. Lyons and Burford. $19.95.
Early in ``Riverwalking,'' Kathleen Dean Moore announces: ``All the same, boats are designed to separate a person from a river and now ... I would rather travel down rivers on foot, walking along trails that run the length of the river or, best of all, walking through the river itself.'' An interesting choice, for the first two ways possess an undeniable attraction, as Moore shows in several chapters, but this is a person who most loves her rivers one careful step after another, savoring each subtle shift in time and location.
This slowing down is to begin to fully see and feel, as Moore continues: ``The river carries my own history, swirls of silt lifted by my passage, memories so thick and slippery that I struggle to keep my feet.'' That difficult but exhilarating balance is at the core of this volume, river memories so deeply embedded in Moore's psyche that they are inseparable from her other recollections: the loss of her father, the growing independence of her daughter, the awareness of her own middle age.
The book's structure reflects this rich blending of tributaries, each chapter mixing a specific river encounter with the drifting thoughts that accompany and follow such events. As such, a central metaphor in ``Riverwalking'' is the image of a net, used to find out which tiny creatures inhabit the river bottom, but also a perfect symbol for a curious and eclectic mind: ``Reach small, individually wrapped observation is a gift.''
There are no ruts in Moore's rivers, and the author, chairperson of the philosophy department at Oregon State University, succeeds in bringing a sense of constant unfolding, of spate and settling and new clarity that occurs when we stay in contact with the wildness of flowing water.
Memorable sections of ``Riverwalking'' abound, but Moore's definition of ``poking around'' in ``Winter Creek'' combines easy humor with subtle analysis: ``Poking around is more capricious than studying, but less intense than strolling. It's less systematic than watching, but more closely focused. Unlike hiking, it has no destination.''
The author's description of a poker in action is even more fun: ``People who poke around have seeds in their socks and rocks in their pockets ... When no one is looking, they may even rub their lips where beavers have chewed just to get a sense of it. Often they stand still for a long time, listening, and then they follow the sound, sneaky as a heron, until they are close enough to see a chickadee knocking on wood like a tiny woodpecker. But if the route to the chickadee is crossed by the tracks of a black-tailed deer, they will turn to follow the deer into the first, unless the deer tracks cross a creek, in which case it is important to meander with the water through the fold between the hills.''
``Riverwalking'' is replete with such musings, the workings of an intense and elegant mind engaged with some wonderful rivers, including the Rogue, Deschutes, Metolius, Mackenzie and Brazos. This work will be enjoyed by those who can't resist the push and pull of the riverine, but it should delight almost anyone.
Justin Askins teaches English at Radford University
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB