Dirty River Extravaganza

Sounds like an Appalachian washboard band, doesn't it? In fact, if we do some checking I bet it is.

So why is the name of a jug and banjo band the title of this post? Because to graduate from my law school you have to complete 40 hours of pro bono (volunteer) work. Since 20 hours can come from doing any kind of charitable work, an opportunity came this weekend for us to get 5 hours or so by canoeing along the North Fork River in Broward County, picking up trash as we floated along. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

First, this isn't a "river" as many of us would think of it. Its more like a canal or creek that backs up to houses and parking lots. Houses is a term used very loosely.
It was not a nice area, lets just say. Not terrible, but not nice. And ooooooh so dirty.
(okay, I know I should've realized I would be picking up trash in the most disgusting form of the word, but somehow I had romanticized the whole experience ahead of time).

Here, have some evidence of the bad state of things of this river.
It clearly has major issues:



Yep, thats a dead iguana. This was only one of 3 that were spotted. We didn't see many live animals, and absolutely no fish at all.


But still, I had a nice canoe team so we had a good time. I was stuck in the middle being the primary trash handler, but it wasn't all that bad.





I initially started trying to help clean the canoe after all was said and done, but in my attempt to conserve water by kinking the hose I accidentially let it slip and ended up spraying everyone around me. Most of them in the crotch. My bad.



So I played photog for a while.


We were made aware mid-river that we were in the procrastinator's boat. We didn't know what the heck he was talking about until he told us the name of our canoe:



Which did not apply at all because while we were all making a great effort, Kerry made us take it to the next level, using her paddle and hook to pull us backwards if she missed a single piece of trash.
There was no procrastination that morning.



Finally, there was this sign:



"The River is now cleaner than it has been in many years"
I shudder at the thought of years past.
Please, I beg of you. Even though this sign says you can, do not, whever you do, eat fish out of the canal-like-rivers in south Florida.


Here are the "Will-Do" canoe mates. I'd like to point out that the three of us are wearing our respective undergrad alumni gear. Miss college much?





And of course, I made a video for the day. Nothing mind-blowing, but take a look at our trash:






All in all it was a nice Saturday morning.
Got a little sun and the weather was dreamy.
The river was in a sad state but we helped, at least a little bit.
If Matt would've joined in our "row row row your boat" round, we would've been the most awesome group out there, hands down.
But still, a great way to earn pro bono hours and have a couple laughs.

Hope your Saturday was just as nice :)