I am calling friends to invite them to join me at the annual Creek Rising Party April 23, 2020 and I realize the creeks are really rising today. The weather service warns of flooding. DeKalb County and Atlanta watershed departments announce sewer spills. The very name Creek Rising contains a certain urgency.

Today these liquid dynamic cords binding Atlanta together are tearing at their own banks, shoving sand and soil downstream and generally reminding us that we are not in control.

A US Geological Survey gauge sits at the Johnson Road bridge over the South Fork of Peachtree Creek, spitting out real time data. Right now it is flowing at 100 cubic feet per second, 55 degrees F., above average turbidity. All this changes after it rains. Quickly. The creek rises.

We named our annual fund raising party for the South Fork Conservancy “Creek Rising” casually. It’s turned out to be the perfect name. Used to be, people actually said to each other about something important “God Willing and the Creeks Don’t Rise.” I haven’t heard that in a long time, but it contains a crucial truth. If the creeks rose the roads flooded and you might not be going anywhere. You are not in control.

Our first party, more than ten years ago in late April, Anne Quatrano at Floataway Café created a special trail mix for guests to nibble as we explored the new trails along the creek at Zonolite. Sweet, savory, spicy: nobody could get enough of it.

We served a drink I think I named Swamp Water. It was dark rum and I even wanted something green to float on top for realism. Martha Porter Hall and her husband Van gently discouraged the appearance of algae in favor of robust helpings to raise money for our fledgling environmental association. We don’t call our special drink swamp water any more. That first year we had a few dozen friends and raised a few thousand dollars and it’s I’m calling friends to invite them to join me at the annual Creek Rising party April been growing ever since.

The raw dirt meadow reclaimed from asbestos contamination filled in with wild flowers and birds. We got a bigger tent in case it rained. It often rained. One year the cottonwood trees shed fluff so thick it covered the trail through the meadow and into the woods. It looked to many guests like snow. 75 degree snow? That was a fun optical treat.

The music is fun. Board Member Tony Powers, City of Decatur Commissioner, cooks fiendishly good food. By now the trail explorations are more than showing our progress building connecting trails from Emory to the BeltLine in Buckhead. They bring the party to the creek itself.

The duck race is fun. We race yellow rubber ducks, snatching the first winners for prizes. Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Emerita Sally Bethea catches them all so we won’t send rubber pollution down Peachtree Creek to the Chattahoochee River.

The race is a potent reminder we owe something to the creeks. We’re paying attention. We are not in control, but we can help pay attention to the creeks. This party of ours helps the South Fork Conservancy build trails to bring us back.