Upstream: Selected Essays

In her final essay, Oliver moves away from the woods and examines the town she lives in. The town is small, with only one doctor and traffic light. Fishing is its main trade, and many of the fishers came from Portugal. Men return each evening from the water, but a boat occasionally is lost, and the whole town grieves. However, this never stops the fishers from setting out the next morning in their boats.

Pulling the nets from the water is challenging, heavy work. After the fish were delivered to shore, the men sit outside the New York Store. Oliver notes that none of them have all 10 fingers. Once, a human leg bone was pulled up in the lines. Rather than taking the human remains to the police, the men carried it to the local Catholic church. Oliver feels embraced by the community in her town. She sits with the women around a bowl of Portuguese soup and feels a part of the family.

Over time, the town loses its livelihood: Climate change and overfishing deplete the waters. Many people leave to find work elsewhere. Oliver notices the town changing, moving toward tourism rather than fishing. She misses the heavenly experience of what the town was before.