Flowing along with our Hydration theme, we last convened on one of the early 19th-century footbridges over Brewery Creek—not in wintertime, granted, but this snow scene was welcome during the past week's super-hot weather.
Now we're headed south to the higher elevation from which Brewery Creek flowed. The route is by no means a straight line as you can see on the map. Usually a click on the picture will enlarge it, and I've added a wide circle and another red arrow to indicate roughly the borders of our next destination, Tea Swamp.
Those who prefer coffee might make bad jokes about the liquid contents of Tea Swamp, but it's called that for a good reason. Labrador Tea is the common name for a wild shrub that grows across the cooler regions of North America, as one of three varieties in the rhododendron family. Indigenous peoples used it variously to brew a liquid drink, often for medicinal purposes, or to flavour their cooking.
Just as Brewery Creek and its footbridges are lost in the mists of time, so too has Tea Swamp become just a memory. Well, the memory lingers on in wonky streets and rollercoaster sidewalks. I regularly walk this familiar route on East 19th Street. My camera couldn't quite capture the thrilling changes of elevation as tree roots and city utility lines have held their ground while the land continues to subside.
Our old house was a few blocks uphill and eastward from here. When the first multi-storey building was built on the slope, we endured pile-driving for days on end – and more of the same just ten years ago, after moving another six blocks away, as this intersection was further developed. (If you've become hooked on this fascinating!!! story, take a browse in this local journalist's account.)
It was here, just beyond the new building in the upper right, that I once chatted with a construction worker at a vacant lot being fenced off for development. He recalled early school days when field trips would bring his class here to see the vanishing remains of Tea Swamp. And that brings us back to Summer Camp 2025, and a semi-abstract hint of what Tea Swamp might once have been.
Mixed-media is the way to go, and I began with a favourite "loosening up" technique – applying plastic wrap to a still-wet painted surface and lifting it when the paint is almost dry.
Using acrylic gel, I attached some old found bits of hardware and a stream of threads from worn rags. Next I used a couple of printmaking has-beens to stamp some darker colours.
Then, as I was preserving Tea Swamp for all time, why not preserve crumbs from the most beautiful leaf I found last fall? It was otherwise destined for the green organic waste bin.
Here's the finale, "Tea Swamp Unearthed – Hydration Series" copyright 2025.
We've travelled from the footbridge at what is today East 7th Ave to Tea Swamp at East 19th. If we continued our ascent (spoiler alert -- that's not on our itinerary), the source of Brewery Creek would be near this intersection at East 31st. I took this photo, looking downhill towards the old environs of Tea Swamp, after having an eye exam. I hadn't quite realized how indistinct it would appear, but maybe in the distance, those are "the mists of time."