Signs of Water
Arcata California, like many cities, is built on top of creeks. Some diverted, some culverted, underground or hidden in between blocks of buildings. There are wooden signs around town, at openings into the creeks under the street, marking the mile and name of the stream. Sometimes you can see the creek easily. Sometimes even when you try you can't, the sign is the only thing letting you know you're walking on water. To encounter one is to be suddenly reminded of the extent to which we have altered the environment to create the ground we walk on; that there is a world of water under our feet that has been covered, but still flows.
