The Ledger from The Things We Leave Behind by Melissa Dunphy, performed by Chor Leoni

Chor Leoni | Erick Lichte, Artistic Director

Vivian Chen, harp
Julia Nolan, saxophone

Crawford Lake is a small, deep lake within a protected conservation area in Southern Ontario, Canada as part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The unique structure of the lake has allowed the layers of sediment at its bottom to be undisturbed for centuries, providing a datable, chronological record of environmental conditions. Along with evidence of weather and climate events, the layers of sediment contain evidence of a range of human activity, including pollen from 13th century indigenous agriculture, charcoal left from 19th century logging by European colonizers, and a spike in radionuclide fallout from 20th century atomic weapons testing.

Cores taken from Crawford Lake have been used as the primary scientific evidence for the proposed Anthropocene epoch, the geological period in which human activity is a major influence on geological change on Earth.

The mud in Crawford Lake
is a record of our deeds,
a ledger with bands of light and dark
that mark our years:
algae and chalk,
then pollen from crops,
then ash and fallout and plastic particles
deposited in layers,
faster and faster.
A scientist can point to a laminated stripe
and name the moment,
like an accusation.
Our deposits earn interest,
and the lake bed waits
for a day of accounting,
in saecula saeculorum