Saunders Finger Lakes Museum Celebrates Local Ecology
by Sara DeAngelis
This is first in a series of three articles discussing the importance of water in the Finger Lakes Region. Look for Part 2 in the July/August issue and Part 3 in the September/October issue.
“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” This Loren Eiseley quote has always inspired me. Late spring showers soften the soil, stimulating the growth of vines, leaves and flowers. Without freshwater, the essence of life, none of this would be possible.
Consider the miracle of freshwater: Each drop of rain flows into gushing gullies and meandering streams to finally reach the monumental wonder of our Finger Lakes. Water’s journey links the lakes and the landscape.
For a moment, imagine being a droplet of water suspended in your favorite lake. Dawn breaks and sunlight warms its mirror-like surface. As the sun warms the lake, you and every molecule around you transform from a liquid to a vapor, rising into the air. You are still water, yet no longer confined. Now you float, weightless and wandering on the air’s invisible currents. Maybe you condense into fog, a pale veil hovering over the water or moving with the gentle breezes up the hill and among trees and vines. Or you might precipitate as dew, a momentary jewel before rejoining the earth’s thirsty soil. On a warm day, you may rise on air currents, along for the ride, and coalesce with millions of others into a floating vaporous cloud. You move, propelled by global circulation patterns. Your journey as water is one of transformation from solid ice to liquid to vapor, from surface to sky, from individual molecule to collective cloud. It is an eternal and intricate dance.
While I am still learning about the Finger Lakes, water has been instrumental in shaping this region and its landscape for millennia. As a consultant for the Saunders Finger Lakes Museum in Branchport, I’m helping their team plan and write content for new exhibits. That process has opened my eyes to how the area’s ancient history is written in its rocks. Underlying the region are rocks of the Devonian period (400 million years ago), known as the “age of fishes,” when most of New York was a shallow saltwater sea. Like pages in a book, these sedimentary rock layers tell stories of creatures preserved as fossils, evidence of the distant past.
More recently, 10,000 years ago, massive mile-high glaciers shaped the region’s iconic features. They carved out river valleys, smoothed mountains and left behind features that showcase their impact: a legacy of spectacular waterfalls, sculpted gullies, rolling drumlins and, of course, the lakes. The landscape surrounding us is a keeper of memories. The land and waterways give voice to the area’s ancient history, shaped by the movement of water, both fresh and frozen. As we explore the area’s rivers, swim or paddle on one of the lakes, we know that water is the very fabric of the Finger Lakes.
Freshwater is essential to life, yet on our blue planet, 97 percent of all water is saltwater, while only 3 percent is fresh. Of that, a small fraction – just 1 percent – can be found at the surface in rivers, ponds and lakes. We rarely think about water when it is abundant. Yet, as freshwater moves through our soils and subsoils like an invisible thread, it binds our landscapes to visible water ecosystems. Smaller streams, tributaries and marshes function as nurseries for fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Nearshore shallows and wetlands teem with life critical to the complex food webs that link microscopic organisms to lake trout and soaring eagles. These living networks are critical to the health of the lakes.
Water is our planet’s circulatory system, connecting organisms across scales. The branching patterns of watersheds distribute life-giving freshwater from sky to land to lake, and back again. Humans tinker with the natural balance at the peril of future generations. Finger Lakes residents recognize the importance of in caring for the region’s freshwater resources through community stewardship. Many take their role as guardians of the lakes very seriously, and their positive impact compounds as lake associations and larger groups collaborate.
Appreciation and recognition of our connection with freshwater can be found across cultures. In the Thanksgiving Address, the Haudenosaunee people say in part, “We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms.” Caring for the lakes means making sure that we view them not as isolated bodies but holistically, as land and water sympathetically and symbiotically interconnected.
Our freshwater sources serve as a mirror; our treatment reflects our values and choices. Freshwater systems are both delicate and resilient. While fragile, I’ve learned that our lakes and landscapes respond positively to restoration and protection efforts. Clean freshwater – this magical resource – belongs to all of us. It also belongs to future generations and the wildlife that call this region home. Let its importance guide us; we can all be its defenders, protectors and allies.
Sara DeAngelis is an exhibition and experience design consultant specializing in crafting compelling narratives for cultural institutions. A Fulbright Specialist and graduate-level educator on exhibition history, she brings scholarly expertise to her work with museums and nonprofits. Drawing on her training as a naturalist, she has spent the past decade studying ecological landscape principles and advocating for native plant gardens.
