River Restoration

Friday afternoon slows to a sleepy stroll on the OSU campus, as classes give way to weekend escapes. Cache Owner TeamMonroes sets our coordinates, as we seek to investigate River Restoration.

The Olentangy River pedestrian bridge carries the footfalls of hundreds of students on their way to and from towering dorms, and transports thousands of fans to and from the Shoe. In this universe-city, 67,000 students are enrolled, 40,000 staff report for work, and billions of dollars flow each year, in the business of college education.

Across town, the community college runs parallel, with 45,000 students. Here, identities blend and complement each other in the classroom, developing expertise, relishing the freedom to contribute as creative members of society.

Our GPS lands in the middle of the bridge. Cache notes tell us that restoration of the Olentangy meant removal of the Fifth Avenue dam, installed over 80 years ago to provide water to cool the university power plant. Now native grasses and trees will fill in, reversing exploitation that, eventually, degraded both weak and strong.

We look up and down the bridge. In every possible hiding spot, spider webs rule. Let’s dig through old cache logs instead.

Finally, we encounter this, masquerading as a pledge of true, eternal love. With a smile and a hat tip, we are on our way.