A
Walk in the Marsh
by
Carol Capobianco
Audubon's Constitution Marsh has long been a gem of a sanctuary on
the Hudson River in Garrison. Unless you were in a canoe or kayak,
though, access to the wonderful life within its borders was limited
to a short, decaying walkway.
After the untimely passing in 1998 of the marsh's longtime manager, Jim Rod,
who built the original boardwalk, Gov. George Pataki announced a New York
State grant to build a new boardwalk. The governor, an avid birder, was a
friend of Jim's and a frequent visitor to the marsh. The new boardwalk, called
Jim's Walk, at 700 feet is more than double the size of the former walk;
like the old, it opens to a breathtaking expanse of the Hudson Highlands.
I attended the dedication ceremony in May, when life in the marsh was just
renewing its seasonal cycle and the boardwalk's shape and size was visible
from the end of the woodland trail by which it is reached. I revisited the
marsh two months later, with my husband and two nephews, and met with a completely
different experience.
We walked out to the boardwalk and were immersed in sunlight and cattails
and the sounds so magical of the marsh. Jim's Walk was no longer a barren
loop, as it was in the spring, when dignitaries and family and friends crowded
the walk to witness Jim's wife, Dee Rod, cut the official ribbon. This hot
July afternoon, I could not see where the walk would lead me, because the
cattails embraced and rose above it, like a mother killdeer concealing her
chick.
I was hidden from the others as I walked a secluded distance into the flora.
I was alone, or so I thought, except for the chatter of a marsh wren. Then
out from along the shoreline, a huge bird took flight. I was startled by
its size and prehistoric look, until I realized it to be a Great Blue Heron.
Its enormity was magnified by its nearness, by my ability to be so close
to it. The healthy stands of cattails and arrow arum and pickerelweed added
to the rightness of the setting.
At the end of my visit, I was taken by the thought and care that sanctuary
manager Eric Lind, his co-workers Rich Anderson and Connie Mayer, and others
had put into the planning of Jim's Walk, with details unseen by consciousness.
It is a special place, the marsh, and the walk now allows many people access
to this Edenic habitat. Jim's spirit lives there, as nature's soul thrives
there. You must take a walk for yourself.
Wings
Over Dutchess, September 2001
