Spending some time with Old Man River...

Oh...to be able to string together a few words like fellow journalist Mark Twain...

We’ll come back to Mr. Twain in just a little bit... Monday night, the “front porch heat index” was something like 158 degrees at our humble abode. The “front porch heat index” is something I pretty much made up. It’s a combination of the temperature and the humidity. 

At about the time Bob and I went outside for a Monday evening sojourn, the humidity was 74 percent. The temperature was 84 degrees. 74 + 84 = 158. Well, I that’s the total of the two numbers added together. I am not very good with math. That is why The Other Half balances the checkbook; although, I don’t she will need to do that much longer, since the use of checks seems to be fading away.

As noted previously in this space, Bob likes to go outside and spend some time on the porch swing. This must be done at least in the evening...and in the early morning, if possible...and in the middle of the morning, if possible...and, well, you get the picture... 

The visit to the porch swing is a year-round thing. However, Bob does not seem to be as excited about going outside on a snowy day in January when the temperature is barely above freezing and “front porch heat index” isn’t a thing...

On Monday evening of this week, we didn’t spend as much time as usual out on the porch swing. Too warm. Too humid. Too many blood-sucking, six-legged, winged irritants... I did manage to catch a glimpse of a hummingbird and a house wren spending some special together on a utility wire out in front of our house. That was nice.

Back to Mr. Mark Twain...

Last Friday, I had some time available on the Journey Through Life and a “mission” in mind...

Perhaps you are aware that the Mississippi River has once again been in flood stage. Nothing unusual about that. Floods are just part of Old Man River’s life cycle.

Not all that long ago...say in the fall of 2022, the river definitely was not in flood stage. Truth be told,  there was barely a river. The Other Half and her Mark Twain wannabe traveling companion headed to catch a glimpse of the river at the time from the vantage point of Grand Tower. 

While we were in Grand Tower, we took a stroll along the “beach,” which, I must say, was a far cry from the beach we had walked along in Gulf Shores, Alabama, once upon a time...in a vacation far, far away. On the other side of the Mighty Mississippi, over in the Show Me State, the river was so low that folks could walk out to Tower Rock.  

My "mission" on Friday was to take a “road trip” to experience the latest chapter in the story of flooding on the Mississippi River...once again from the vantage point of Grand Tower.

On Friday, The Other Half and Puddn’head Writer Guy would not have been able to go for a stroll on the beach...there was a bit too much water in the ol’ river. I spent about an hour...just watching the river...and even saw a couple of towboats heading north. 

 As my visit with Old Man River came to an end, I happened to catch a glimpse of a black swallowtail butterfly that was flying in the direction of Grand Tower...I couldn’t help but wonder if the little six-legged critter had flown across the entire breadth of the swollen river...

On the way back home, a couple of “scattered” rain showers fell...as in truly “scattered.” At one point on the State Forest Road, the rain fell...and then stopped...the sun came out...and then rain started falling again...

Later in the day, after I got back home, I found a copy of Mark Twain’s classic book “Life on the Mississippi” which we have at home. The book was published in 1883, which was before anyone had laptop computers, so I don’t know how the book came to be.

“The Mississippi River is well worth reading about. It is not a commonplace river, but on the contrary is in all ways remarkable,” Twain somehow wrote without the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.

Our little corner of the Mississippi River’s world was mentioned...in the sense that we are situated between St. Louis and Cairo. Mr. Twain wrote that “The scenery, from St. Louis to Cairo...is varied and beautiful. The hills...were a gracious and worthy setting for the broad river flowing between.” Indeed. Some things do not change. 

Tower Rock was mentioned, too: “a huge, squat pillar of rock, which stands up out of the water on the Missouri side of the river – a piece of nature’s fanciful handiwork – and is one of the most picturesque features of the scenery of that region.” 

I’ve shared reflections about Old Man River a number of times over the years...I think the Mississippi River is just part of who we are here in Flyover Country...and that we sometimes forget what a special gem the Father of Waters truly is... 

I wonder if Mark Twain had a front porch swing that he would sit on to watch the wrens and hummingbirds...

(*The Other Half does “way more” than balance a checkbook...many other financial sorts of things need to be balanced, too...)