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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2017)
2 • The Southwest Portland Post EDITORIAL June 2017 What it feels like to swim across the Willamette River in the summertime OPEN FORUM By Willie Levenson Camaraderie. Summertime. Propulsion. Activism. Jumping in the water, the river feeling amazing, what an incredible way to start the day, why wait until after lunch to plunge into a river? That’s how we start our day. On a morning with stronger currents you’re reminded our river has tidal influence from the Pacific Ocean, 100 miles away. The current is never threatening but its pull sometimes surprises as your rhythmic spirit takes over and subconscious choices are made in carving your path across the river. Our swim does not have chlorine, lap lanes, or flip turns. Reaching the shores of downtown we slowly collect and rest a moment, then count off to be sure everyone made it across. Looking around you notice the eclectic collection of heads and shoulders wading in the water. We a l l h a v e s t o r i e s , a r e individuals, and yet are all united by our love for our river and our Green River Hugger swim caps. As summer proceeds you realize you have become familiar with a lot of these people. Is this what community feels like? You stop mid-way back across and take it all in. The bridges, downtown, the kineticness of the human swimming pod, the movement of the water. Swimming so closely to others, sometimes you imagine we are a band of migrating salmon. Throughout the summer the sun changes position as the days shorten. Mid-August the sun shines right in your eyes at the horizon as you swim east. If you play it just right, you can steer directly behind a Hawthorne Bridge piling to eclipse the bright, late summer sun. You savor the swim as you climb out of the river, exhilarated, adrenalized and satiated from completing a half mile swim. In the height of summer you are lost in the sublime, never thinking about the end. But too quickly our season ends, like our season started, darker mornings, and cooler temperatures. Frequently it is hard to get out of bed and go in the summer—we are in the river at 7 a.m.! Lying in bed, more than once, I have thought maybe it’s best to linger, rest, and miss a morning swim. But you do make it, and plunge in, and realize, somehow, you forgot, how incredible it always feels to be buoyant and immersed in our Willamette River. You’re overtaken by a rush and a smile, and kick into gear. Willie Levenson is leader of the Members of the River Hugger Swim Team take a summer plunge into the Willamette River. (Photo courtesy of Willie Levenson) Human Access Project and a member of the River Hugger Swim Team. According to Levenson the estimated date to start swimming is June 19 or when the Willamette River reaches 65 degrees. The Post welcomes reader response. Please send letters up to 300 words or essays up to 500 words via email to don@multnomahpost.com or visit our website, www.SWPortlandPost. com. Please stick to one subject and include your contact information. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity, punctuation and libel concerns. Subscribe to The Post and help us keep the presses rolling Get The Southwest Portland Post delivered to your mailbox every month and help support your local newspaper at the same time. Why not send a subscription to a friend or relative. Makes a great gift! Mail us a check or money order or call 503-244-6933 with your credit or debit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. 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Phone: (503) 244-6933; Fax: (866) 727-5336 general email: news@multnomahpost.com web address: www.swportlandpost.com 24 Editor & Publisher .........Don Snedecor Reporters / Writers...... ....KC Cowan, Jack Rubinger, ................Erik Vidstrand Copy Editor ......................Janet Goetze Advertising Sales ...........Don Snedecor Graphic Design ..............Leslie Baird Design Printing ............................Oregon Lithoprint Circulation .......................Rick Hepper © 2017 by The Southwest Portland Post. All rights reserved. The opinions of the artists and authors contained herein are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Deadline for news and advertising is generally the 20th of the month prior to publication. Please call for current deadline information. Advertising rates are available upon request. Subscriptions are $24 per year. The Post has a circulation of 7,000 in Multnomah Village and the surrounding neighborhood business districts including Burlingame, Capitol Hill, Garden Home, Glen Cullen, Hillsdale, South Portland, Raleigh Hills, West Portland and Vermont Hills. The Post is published on or about the 1st of every month. Back issues are $2.50 each when available. All major credit cards accepted. The Post is printed on recycled newsprint using soy-based inks.
