海角大神

The pond is silent 鈥� until the first cry: 鈥淔ound something!鈥� A septuagenarian swimmer ducks into the water. She emerges, fist first, clutching a pair of bright-blue children鈥檚 swimming goggles. These are passed to a kayaker, who waggles them overhead, like a prize, before stowing them in a laundry basket for safekeeping.

Over the next hour, on a cloudy Saturday morning in July, the team of 15 鈥� all over age 65, all women 鈥� hunts for trash across Mares Pond, a 28-acre kettle hole near Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, at depths of up to 8 feet.聽

They turn up wooden planks, silty beer cans, a plastic container lid, a mud-caked fishing rod, a cement block, and countless other bits of garbage. The day鈥檚 pi猫ce de r茅sistance, though, is a 12-foot segment of aluminum flashing. It requires the combined efforts of several divers to hoist on the back of a kayak.

When the team returns to shore, they are smiling and laughing. They crack jokes about the dive and their haul. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even know what it was,鈥� giggles one swimmer, referencing the blueberry-cheesecake-flavored electronic cigarette they found. 鈥淲e have to ask a young person.鈥�

These are the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG). Since 2017, the group 鈥� which accepts only older women as members 鈥� has removed trash, by hand, from ponds across Cape Cod.聽

Ostensibly, the group鈥檚 primary goal is conservation: It aims to keep the ponds pure for the benefit of both the ecosystem 鈥� which includes everything from turtles and herons to grasses and microbes 鈥� and its human visitors. But this isn鈥檛 all the group is about. As founder Susan Baur, a retired psychologist,聽puts it: 鈥淭he litter is the tip of the iceberg.鈥�

Although removing trash is itself valuable work, the women have found another sense of value in the experience of entering, restoring, and then departing a pond. But it鈥檚 not exactly easy to put into words.

鈥淚 call it the wonderland effect,鈥� Dr. Baur says.

鈥淔or most of your life, you have some idea of what you鈥檙e doing. You go to a store. ... Cars drive on roads 鈥� you know what to expect,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you are underwater, it鈥檚 like flying. You鈥檙e in a different world. And you鈥檙e in a world that, in fact, is not an empty bowl of water, [that] is an entire ecosystem which is self-sustaining. Everything fits together.鈥�

The group鈥檚 existence is owed to a moment of spontaneity by Dr. Baur. A lifelong nature enthusiast, she had begun swimming in ponds on the cape as a safer alternative to the ocean. However, she found that she 鈥渄idn鈥檛 like them at all.鈥� Between mud, darkness, and snapping turtles, the world of the pond was at first one of anxiety for her.聽

The only way she could keep her courage up was to rely on markers: 鈥淚鈥檇 swim to the golf ball, and then swim to the drowned tree, and then swim to the beer can. I love beer cans 鈥� they鈥檙e easy to spot.鈥�

Eventually, Dr. Baur realized she didn鈥檛 need the markers anymore 鈥� and that they were multiplying. In 2017, on a whim, she rounded up two friends and approached a stranger with a kayak, and together they cleared 鈥渉alf a bushel鈥� of litter from a pond.聽

鈥淲e thought that was fabulous,鈥� Dr. Baur says. (Today, OLAUG wouldn鈥檛 bother with a pond with so little trash, she adds.)

In 2019, after Dr. Baur moved to Falmouth, she and her friends dove for trash in a few more ponds. It was during the pandemic, however, that things took off. 鈥淚t just bloomed,鈥� Dr. Baur says. 鈥淣obody was doing anything but meeting outside. So my entire social life was diving for garbage and walking the dog.鈥�

Peter Donahue is the treasurer of the association for Jenkins Pond, to which OLAUG has now made several visits. 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e incredible,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e very professional. They鈥檙e serious about their work, but at the same time, they have lots of fun.鈥�

The cleanups, he adds, have doubled as community events. Dozens of people come out to watch the swimmers work. 鈥淲hat they provide is a tremendous service that any pond would benefit from,鈥� Mr. Donahue says. 鈥淎nd not just from the physical aspect of it, but the community aspect of it, because of their joy and their energy in what they do, and their belief in what they鈥檙e doing.鈥澛�

Like Dr. Baur, the other swimmers have found a sense of wonder in the pond cleanups. 鈥淲e literally immerse ourselves,鈥� says Robin Melavalin, who was one of the group鈥檚 first members. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a completely different world under the surface. You see fish of all different sizes. You see a bunch of turtles. It鈥檚 beautiful. It鈥檚 all underwater miracles.鈥�

OLAUG鈥檚 efforts began to garner attention. Local news organizations 鈥� the Cape Cod Times, then CBS Boston, then NPR on Cape Cod 鈥� picked up the story. And with the publicity came a bevy of outsider opinions on the group鈥檚 work.聽

Many expressed their gratitude, but a sizable contingent criticized the group鈥檚 name 鈥� that they referred to themselves as 鈥渙ld ladies.鈥�

鈥淵ou should call yourselves the Lovely Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, or the Mermaids Against Glitter Litter,鈥� Dr. Baur, smirking, recalls being told. Others said she should open the group to all ages, to men.

Although she admits that it wasn鈥檛 initially a conscious choice, she now believes that the 鈥渙ld lady鈥� identity is a crucial part of what the group is about.聽

鈥淥ver 65, if you鈥檙e healthy enough to do what we鈥檙e doing, it is the age of gratitude,鈥� Dr. Baur says. 鈥淵ou are so grateful that you can still do this. You鈥檙e just grateful anyway, grateful for the trees and grateful for clean water.鈥�

The result, Dr. Baur says, is an environment free of competition, focused on cultivating respect for the pond. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more reverential.鈥澛�

Dr. Baur notes that 鈥渨omen over 65 tend to feel the constriction of aging.鈥� They lose power and social standing, she says. Part of the goal of OLAUG is to demonstrate that older women, working as a team, can do a lot more than people might think.

Criticism aside, the most common response was one of inspiration: in Dr. Baur鈥檚 words, 鈥淚 want to join you.鈥澛�

As the group added more like-minded women to its ranks, it also began to take a more systematic approach to cleanups. Rather than just showing up at a pond, OLAUG developed relationships with local pond associations, which supply it with extra kayaks.

In late June, the group held its first 鈥渢ryouts.鈥� The event was open to any woman over age 65 who identifies with the adventurous spirit of the group. Rather than being a competition, the tryouts ensured that the new recruits could comfortably swim in a pond, dive down, and lug out tires, hunks of wood, and whatever else they found.

The team added 15 new 鈥渙ld ladies,鈥� more than tripling in size. 鈥淚 have to learn to do spreadsheets,鈥� Dr. Baur says with a sigh.

The cleanup at Mares Pond was the first outing for the new recruits.聽

Julia Benz, another longtime member and OLAUG鈥檚 resident swimming expert, says that the veterans supported the newbies when they struggled. 鈥淲e had a person today who was ready to give up. We kind of talked her down,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking for the fastest, the best. We鈥檙e looking for people who can share each other鈥檚 strength to make a good team.鈥�

One of the new members, Maggie Megaw, had a 鈥渇antastic鈥� time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of meditative, really, to be swimming with the fish, the turtles and looking at the aquatic plants,鈥� she says.

As the adrenaline of the dive dwindles, the team enjoys Mares Pond-shaped sugar cookies and the newbies receive their very own neon-orange beanies emblazoned 鈥淥LAUG.鈥� Their faces spell their glee.

To Dr. Baur, the new swimmers鈥� excitement makes perfect sense. 鈥淭hey come up and they have just swum farther than they鈥檝e ever swum. They鈥檝e lifted more than they鈥檝e ever lifted. They鈥檝e seen stuff that they鈥檝e never seen. And they鈥檝e done good,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey come back with their hearts beating.鈥�