Loose Leaf Notes

 Jennifer Greene’s study of water began when she was a child playing in mud puddles.  Today, as director of the Water Research Institute (WRI) in Blue Hill, Maine, she teaches hands-on workshops that demonstrate the hidden language of water and helps others develop a sense of wonder and respect for it.

“Our task is to try to understand water on its own terms; how it behaves when it flows.  It’s a very, very special fluid. We’re going to explore some aspects of its intrinsic nature … We’re going to meet a friend,” Greene told the students at Blue Mountain High School in her introduction to them.  

She was in town to present, Seeing Water with New Eyes, a weekend workshop event at the Floyd EcoVillage.  Hosted by Spikenard Farm and Bee Sanctuary, the event includes a Friday night lecture from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for $5, and a day long workshop on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at a cost of $85 (which includes, lunch, snack and Friday night lecture).

Here’s an excerpt from the event poster, outlining the day long workshop: Knowledge of “water’s language” can lead to new paradigms for natural resources management and policy strategies. The “movement forms we will study are: the drop and drop-fall; the vortex in its various forms, the wave and the meander.  Beginning with simple phenomena experiments, that can be observed, the methods employed by WRI show that water phenomena are like the letters of a script which can be learned, read and used to understand its story.

I’m sorry to say that I’ll be out of town and won’t be attending the event, but I was able to stop by the BMHS and watch one of about 20 hands-on experiments that Greene leads.   I was very impressed and grateful that she volunteered her time and knowledge to the students.   

Call the EcoVillage at (540) 745-4434.  There’s still time to sign up.

You can read about Greene’s day long workshop with adults HERE.